Monarto Safari Park has welcomed a new tall friend to the wild family.

Noodle, the almost-two-year-old male giraffe, arrived on 28 May after a lengthy trip from Queensland.

Wondering how on earth you get a giraffe from one end of the country to another? Zoos SA Veterinarian Jerome Kalvas has a few words on the recent trip:

“In late May, keeper Matt Brewer, Senior Indigenous Conservation Officer Leon Dodd and myself, along with an Australia Zoo keeper, accompanied Noodle on a cross country trip from Australia Zoo all the way to Monarto Safari Park.

The trip was a steady 32-hour drive. However, despite careful planning of the route, Victoria’s snap lock down saw us take an alternate route through Broken Hill at the last minute to avoid the whole party having to go into quarantine.

Noodle remained bright throughout the trip, watching the varying landscapes of the Australian outback flash by, plus the odd admiring or confused glances coming his way – giraffes appear to be a novelty in most of Australia’s more remote country towns!

Yesterday he was released from quarantine and again found himself the centre of attention as his new bachelor mates followed him around to try and get a sniff of this young new comer.”

Noodle is settling in well into the bachelor herd at Monarto Safari Park.

Visitors may be able to meet him as part of the Giraffe Safari experience.

Welcome Noodle!