Giraffes embrace Ohio winters in specially designed barn at Columbus Zoo

COLUMBUS, Ohio (WSYX) — When your home is the ‘Heart of Africa,’ you must find somewhere else to spend your Ohio winter at the Columbus Zoo.

Welcome to the Giraffe Barn, where the herd of 18 spends the coldest months of the year. It’s a space they enjoy all winter long.

“We’re lucky because they do like their barn,” said Shannon Borders, Curator of the Columbus Zoo and Aquarium’s Heart of Africa region. “But honestly, our over-arching goal here at the Columbus Zoo is to make their indoor experiences the same as their outdoor experiences.”

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In this space, the giraffe can access hay cubes and different enrichment opportunities. Zookeepers can change the grid of the barn, so the animals can travel for food and stay active.

“We have actually done a study with these guys where we put a Fitbit, a giraffe-sized Fitbit on them to see how many steps they’re taking in the winter and then how many steps they’re taking in the summertime because if that was a huge variant, we need to adjust,” said Borders about the experiment, comparing the two seasons. “Actually, it was only off by about 32 steps.”

3 furnaces keep the Giraffe Barn between 67-69 degrees all winter long. On warmer winter days, the giraffes can access small outdoor areas and as much sun as possible.

“At the top of this barn, we actually have skylights that are designed to shift and allow the most amount of light inside for the giraffe, allowing those different rays in,” said Borders.

In the back of the barn, you’ll find what’s called the “community room.”

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“The floor is a natural substrate, so this is called fiber or playground mulch,” said Borders.

The “community room” is where we learned some fun facts about these animals.

While they enjoy snacks of lettuce, to them, rye crackers are their chocolate.

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Also, giraffes like music. The keepers have been known to play different genres over the barn’s speakers and it turns out, Taylor Swift is big with the herd. Apparently, they’re in their Reputation Era.

But how can you really tell a giraffe likes music? Zookeepers say these animals let you know how they feel.

“You can definitely tell if one is not happy with whatever is going on, because they throw a giant size tantrum,” said Borders. “These guys weigh, you know, 2000-2100 pounds and they stomp their feet.”

But one activity stopped the herd in their tracks.

“We put up a projector on the wall and put up a live stream video of a watering hole, and these guys stood and watched it for hours,” said Borders.

Outside the barn, there’s some solo time with a member of the pride of lions, enjoying the sun. It’s a reminder that winter in the Heart of Africa has its own beauty.

“There’s a calm that comes to the zoo,” said Borders about this time of year. “Yes, it is cold. The animals just do their thing and I think it’s so majestic to watch that in the silence of the smaller crowds. It’s almost like you have the whole place to yourself, so I think there’s absolute value coming to the zoo over the wintertime.”