The giraffe is the tallest terrestrial animal. There are six subspecies, each with its own fur pattern (a photo of their fur patterns is below). One subspecies is the Masai giraffe, of which there are only nine in existence in the country spread across four facilities; four Masai giraffe are currently at Kumamoto Zoo.
Among these four is Toma (冬真), who was born a year ago and has now reached a length of 3.5 meters and weight of 500 kilograms. Any bigger and giraffes become difficult to move, so now that Toma is weaned, he will be sent to live with a female at the Phoenix Natural Wildlife Park in Miyazaki in November.
The article contained two cute words I didn’t know:
- ラブコール (love call): to call out to someone with love or good will
- 婿入り (mukoiri; literally, “entrance of groom”): to move in with one’s bride’s family
Farewell, Toma! The ラブコール has reached Kumamoto from Miyazaki, and now you will 婿入り with your new sweetheart. We look forward to the gamboling of Masai giraffe calves in the near future. - William