Cheyenne Mountain Zoo established The International Center for the Care and Conservation of Giraffe (The Giraffe Center) in 2022. With three full-time employees, The Giraffe Center is a concentrated effort by CMZoo to consolidate resources, expand educational programs to improve and enrich the lives of giraffe in human care throughout the world, and inspire conservation action.
In January 2025, experts from around the world gathered at The Living Desert Zoo and Gardens, in Palm Springs, California, for The Giraffe Center’s Giraffe and Okapi Conference. More than 100 specialists, keepers, conservationists and researchers from 11 countries attended the four-day conference to share their experiences and expertise in giraffe and okapi care.
“It was truly inspiring and fulfilling to see professionals from all aspects of giraffe and okapi care come together to share and learn from each other,” Amy Schilz, senior animal behaviorist at The Giraffe Center, says.
The momentum of giraffe and okapi care conferences had slowed in recent years, and The Giraffe Center team saw an opportunity to revive the exchange of ideas among giraffe and okapi professionals. Attendees, speakers and presenters gathered from around the world, including the U.S., Brazil, Canada, Belgium, England, Namibia, Kenya, the United Arab Emirates, Iran, Australia and the Netherlands.
This rich diversity meant attendees had access to a range of topics on improving the lives of giraffe and okapis in human care. They explored wild giraffe eating habits, and nutritionists discussed how different food types affect physiology. Experts shared insights for incorporating more browse into giraffe diets, and then led an open panel where attendees could pose questions on any aspect of giraffe and okapi care. Another panel focused on creating a full lifestyle of positive reinforcement for giraffe in human care, as opposed to creating sporadic enrichment opportunities.
One of the highlights of the conference was ‘Browse Day,’ when breakout groups discussed securing browse (natural tree branches and leaves), improving enrichment and feeding tactics, growing browse farms and identifying toxic plants. Jason Bredahl, CMZoo’s curator of environmental enhancements, presented at Browse Day.
“I keep telling people, ‘browse is the way,” Jason says. “As animal care professionals, we always want to improve the lives of our animals. CMZoo has dedicated full-time employees, including me, to study how to do that, and this conference allows us to share the methods and data with others who can improve their animals’ lives.”
The data shows, basically, that for CMZoo’s giraffe herd, nothing beats browse. Jason describes the herd seeing browse like a dog when its owner comes home from work. They drop whatever they’re doing and beeline for the browse, even excitedly taking it out of staff members’ hands before they can hang it for them. Khalid, CMZoo’s breeding bull, enjoys stripping bark and leaves from branches so much that staff jokes that he’s just leaving ‘browse bones.’
Browse is more than fun for giraffe; it’s mentally and physically stimulating for the herd – and nutritious. To enjoy this giraffe-approved meal, they must travel to multiple browse locations and then spend time working to strip leaves and branches. Animals want to work for rewards, and eating browse is much more difficult and enriching for an animal, compared to scooping hay from a feeder. At the conference, attendees got insights that CMZoo’s environmental enhancements team has worked for years to study. They returned to their home herds with a head start, guidance on how to make it work at their own facilities and a support system.
Attendees also gained valuable insight into okapi care and conservation, hearing firsthand from conservationists who work directly with okapis in the wild.
“I remember walking by a group at the end of the night, and hearing one of the okapi conservationists tell stories of his field experiences to the okapi caretakers,” Amy says. “That was the moment for me. It reinforced how important it is for us to all meet, share and do this work with each other’s support.”
The conference fostered important senses of camaraderie and support among attendees.
“My favorite thing was watching a room full of people who barely knew each other become friends,” Amy says. “Now, if they have a challenge, they have a support system to reach out to. That kind of professional network is invaluable, especially for those who are newer to the field. Shared knowledge ultimately improves care for okapi and giraffe all over the world – and that’s what we all want.”
Looking ahead, The Giraffe Center will co-host a specialized workshop at West Midlands Safari Park in England in July. This hands-on event will focus on giraffe behavior and training, continuing the commitment to advancing best practices in giraffe care.
For more information on professional memberships, workshops and more, available for giraffe and okapi care teams, visit giraffecenter.cmzoo.org
