Zarafa Story
ZARAFA GROUP STORY & SPONSORSHIP
Specialists in Suspended Access & Fall Protection
The true story of Zarafa who trekked 3,500 miles from Africa to Paris. A fascinating story of overcoming unusual challenges with innovative solutions.
And information on our involvement in sponsorship the giraffe!
THE GIRAFFE THAT WALKED TO PARIS
Zarafa was a female Masai giraffe captured as a baby in Ethiopia. As a baby Zarafa was beautiful, gentle and quiet and won the hearts of the villagers who cared for her. When she was old enough the Ottoman Viceroy of Egypt made a gift of her to King Charles X of France to cement the relationship between Egypt and France.
Thus began the long journey from her village in Ethiopia to Paris, a distance of over 3,500 miles. The first part of the journey was almost 2,000 miles along the Blue Nile and the Nile to Alexandria. From Alexandria, Zarafa crossed the Mediterranean by a specially adapted ship accompanied by her handlers Hassan and Atir who were charged by the Viceroy with her care. She arrived in the port of Marseille on Tuesday 31st October 1826.
Zarafa remained in Marseille until May 1827 and became extremely popular with the local people. On 20th May she started her walk to Paris, a distance of 550 miles, which she completed in 41 days. All along the route crowds turned out to see this adopted daughter of France. Escorted by the royal cavalry Zarafa was presented to the King at noon on July 9th 1827. Paris adored her. She was a sensation throughout France with streets, squares, inns and taverns named after her.
She lived in Le Jardin du Roi (re named Le Jardin des Plantes) for 18 years until her death in 1845. Today Zarafa’s mounted remains stand on a staircase in a museum in La Rochelle.
GIRAFFE RESEARCH PROJECT in South Africa
Zarafa are proud to be supporting a research project being carried out by Wendy Thorogood as part of her Masters at Anglia Ruskin University in Cambridge.
She is researching the social networks of the giraffe, in conjunction with African Impact through their 'volunteering in research' and 'photography' projects in Greater Kruger, South Africa and is assisted by The Giraffe Foundation.
The project is looking to shed more light on the social networks of giraffe in a Southern African fenced reserve.
Some species are facing what has been dubbed a 'silent extinction' and projects like this help to add to the research that can contribute to the giraffe knowledge base and maybe help to reverse the frightening trend of declining numbers in parts of Africa. Some populations are on the brink of disappearance. It is only recently that researchers have discovered evidence that giraffe are likely four different species and until this decade there was very little research done on them and even less public awareness of the crisis faced. This is changing but so very slowly and some may face extinction before the data can be gathered to back up conservation efforts.
For further information, please visit;
GIRAFFE SPONSORSHIP at Chester Zoo
Zarafa are proud to announce that we are supporters of the giraffe herd at Chester Zoo, the UK’s most popular zoo.
For over 40 years Zarafa Group businesses have used a giraffe as its logo, so we thought it was time to do our bit to help this beautiful and endangered animal.
By supporting Chester Zoo and their active Giraffe conservation projects, we hope our support will go some way to helping this amazing species to grow its numbers. With only a few hundred left in the wild, Chester Zoo have a thriving herd of Rothschild’s giraffes, which are the world’s second rarest kind of giraffe.
Please visit Chester Zoo Giraffe pages for further information on the giraffes at Chester Zoo and the great work they do to help save giraffe’s from extinction.
