The Denver Zoo welcomed Echo, a 3 year old gerenuk. He just arrived from the Phoenix Zoo to be paired with 7 year old female Squirt, through a recommendation of the Association of Zoos and Aquariums Species Survival Plan, which ensures healthy populations and genetic diversity among zoo animals. Zookeepers say Echo is very mellow and took seeing snow for the first time in stride.
Gerenuks are a small species of antelope with long necks and specially designed hips and pelvises that give them the unique ability to stand up completely vertical on their hind legs, making it easier to browse hard to reach leaves in trees.
According to the African Wildlife Foundation website (awf.org/wildlife-conservation/gerenuk), gerenuks are found in habitats with woody vegetation, especially dry, flat thornbush and thickets. It avoids very dense woodlands and very open habitats. There is an estimated 95,000 living today, mostly in eastern Africa, such as Somalia and Kenya and part of Ethiopia.
