An 18-month old reticulated giraffe has recently joined our animal collection. The female giraffe, named Layla, comes to Nashville from the Gladys Porter Zoo in Brownsville, Texas.
“Layla has been a welcome addition to our giraffe barn” said Connie Philipp, director of animal collections at Nashville Zoo. “She is a very spunky and curious. Being hand-raised has made her very interested in what we do all day.”
Layla is Nashville Zoo’s first reticulated giraffe, one of nine different sub-species of giraffe. Nashville Zoo’s other two, a female named Margarita and a male named Congo, are both Masai giraffe. Reticulated giraffe are known for their distinctive skin pattern of bright orange spots separated by cream lines. The pattern provides good camouflage in the dense vegetation of their native Eastern Africa. It is estimated that fewer than 5,000 remain in the wild.
Layla currently weighs over 590 pounds and stands 9 feet tall, considerably smaller than Margarita who weighs 1,860 pounds and is over 14 feet tall. Zoo guests can see Layla on exhibit during sunny days where temperatures remain above 50 degrees.









