The komodo dragon has touched down in SA for quarantine and Kimya the giraffe will remain in SA

Adelaide Zoo’s last remaining giraffe Kimya will move to her birthplace Monarto rather than to NSW. And our first komodo dragon has just landed.

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Adelaide Zoo’s last remaining giraffe has passed up the chance to move to Sydney, and komodo dragon enthusiasts can count down the weeks until our first one is out of quarantine and on display in early March.

Kimya began her training for the long trailer ride to Sydney in the second half of last year, but she remained adamant about staying put here in SA and due to her timid nature, did not show keepers any sign of progression through months of training sessions.

Adelaide Zoo’s giraffes Kimya and Dharba. Dharba died in March last year. Picture: Tricia Watkinson

“With Kimya we were always really clear we would move her when she was ready … and she wasn’t progressing,” said Dr Phil Ainsley, Director of Life Sciences at Adelaide Zoo.

In late November a training species co-ordinator identified Eyelean, a hand-raised giraffe from Monarto Safari Park, a more suitable candidate for the move, being more comfortable with human interaction.

“Not only did this make her a better candidate for Sydney Zoo, she is also a younger and smaller giraffe which made transportation that little bit easier,” he said.

Eyelean is given a carrot cake for her birthday while living at Monarto. She has since moved to Sydney. Picture: Zoos SA

Arriving at Sydney Zoo on December 5, two-year-old Eyelean is settling in well.

Steve Blanchard, the zoo’s Elephant Ungulate Curator, said Eyelean was one of the most beautiful giraffes he’d worked with.

“Her confidence and personality continue to surprise and impress me.

“Eyelean has made friends with our three zebra and two ostrich – despite being the strangest thing they’d ever seen.”

Eyelean was fondly named due to her standout characteristics of a swollen eye and slanted neck at birth.

Meanwhile, seven komodo dragons touched down in Adelaide from Prague Zoo in early December to undergo three months of quarantining.

Adelaide Zoo will get its first komodo dragon in early March.

One female dragon will be kept in Adelaide as the state’s first komodo, and the other six will fly to other institutions around the country. Visitors can expect to view the komodo at Adelaide Zoo in early March.

The komodo will initially reside in the reptile house while a new enclosure is being built.

In its completion, Dr Ainsley said the zoo will look at purchasing a male komodo for breeding purposes.

Kimya will be available for visits in the Adelaide Zoo until she is moved to Monarto Safari Park – her original birthplace – in the first quarter of the year.

Dr Ainsley said the move would be good for Kimya, as some of her original herd remain in the southeastern enclosure.

“Some of her sisters are still up there, we do know giraffes have very long memories and particularly with Kimya’s personality, she remembers most things.”