MEXICO CITY (AP) – A campaign to save Benito the giraffe from extreme temperatures and a small enclosure in Mexico’s arid northern border city of Ciudad Juarez has finally paid off, with officials promising to move him to a more spacious animal park 2,000 kilometres to the south.
Benito arrived in Ciudad Juarez, which is across the border from El Paso, Texas, in May 2023 as a three-year-old, and since then has had to put up with the scorching desert sun with just a small patch of shade, as well as the winter cold and winds.
“Right now he’s suffering from the winter weather,” said Ana Félix, a Ciudad Juarez animal rights activist whose group ‘We Are Your Voice’ led the fight to find a better home for Benito.
“These winds of 40 kilometres per hour are what are really affecting the health and life of the giraffe now.”
The government of the northern state of Chihuahua on Monday confirmed it had reached an agreement to transfer Benito to the Africam Safari park in the central state of Puebla because “the well-being of Benito is the priority”.
Africam operates a safari-style park in which animals roam large enclosures, while visitors observe many of the species from their cars.
Africam Safari Director Frank Carlos Camacho said in a video that his reserve “is ready to receive him”, but noted that moving an animal the size of a giraffe across the country “is a complicated thing”.
“Moving him from Chihuahua to Puebla is going to be a long move,” Camacho said. Félix said authorities finally took action “late, but still in time”.
The park also built a larger sun canopy for the giraffe and dredged out garbage and fetid water from a pool that took up much of the enclosure.
