BEIJING: More than 60 giraffes today arrived in China on a chartered flight from South Africa to be sent to various zoos, according to a media report.
Sixty-six giraffes -- 44 females and 22 males -- arrived in central China's Henan province from Johannesburg. The giraffes, which are around two years old, can grow up to 5.2 metres.
The animals will go through a health check-up and will be quarantined for 45 days in the city of Jiaozuo in northern Henan, before being sent to zoos across China, state-run Xinhua news agency reported.
In August last year, the city airport in the province received 63 giraffes from South Africa.
According to the Henan Entry-Exit Inspection and Quarantine Bureau, Zhengzhou, the capital of the province, has received close to 10,000 imported animals since 2015, including giraffes and zebras from South Africa, polar bears from Russia, alpacas from Chile and dolphins from Japan.