Australia: 12-year-old giraffe declared world's tallest by Guinness World Records

A 12-year-old giraffe named ‘Forest’ at an Australian Zoo in Queensland has been honoured with the title of the world’s tallest giraffe, standing at 5.7 m (18ft 8in) by the Guinness World Records. In a blog post on its official website, the authorities wrote that towering as tall as the “stack of four MINI cars from the ground” Forest is a statuesque specimen among the Australian male Giraffes or the ‘Bulls’ that can measure between 4.6 and 5.5 m (15–18 ft).  

Our sweetheart Forest has officially made it into the Guinness World Records for being the tallest living giraffe! We are so proud of our towering guy; he has such a wonderful heart—Zoo member Bindi Irwin wrote in a post on Facebook.

Further, she urged the public to visit the Giraffe on their next trip to the zoo. Australia Zoo's Kat Hansen reportedly said that Forest was born in the Auckland Zoo as part of the regional breeding program. She added that there were nine such classified subspecies of giraffe which are vulnerable to extinction, and important for the genetic diversity, as per local media reports. She was quoted as saying that Forest arrived at Australia Zoo when he was two years old and a "lot smaller" in height than he is today. She added, the 12-year-old giraffe, father of 10 calves, was still growing up.  

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Staff created 'special' measuring pole

According to the Guinness World Records’ statement, the giraffes grew up to a height of 4.6 metres to 5.5 metres generally. However, Forest’s height was unique due to immense training and conditioning at the zoo. “Forest stands head and shoulders above the other two giraffes at the park, Kebibi and Gigi, where he is the only male in the herd,” Guinness’ statement read. “Staff had to create a specially marked measuring pole and rig it close to a hay dispenser in the giraffe house,” it further added. “It then took several months to capture the video and photos that Guinness World Records required to assess his height because it took some time for Forest to become familiar with the new feeder,” Guinness World Records mentioned in the statement. 

Masai giraffe (G. camelopardalis ssp. tippelskirchi) has been recognised as “endangered” by the IUCN since 2019. Forest’s species was known as Vulnerable by the International Union for Conservation of Nature, however, the diminishing population prompted conservationists to add them on the endangered species list, according to Guinness World Record's statement.  

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