This is a travel story, of sorts. A logistics story, too.
As you read this article, Inkosi the giraffe will be at the end of a marathon journey across the Nullarbor Plain from Perth Zoo in Western Australia to his new home in South Australia.
The three-year-old is being transferred as part of a regional breeding programme to save the species from extinction.
Two zookeepers and a veterinarian have travelled with four-metre-high Inkosi on the three-day trip, stretching 2,750 kilometres to Monarto Safari Park near Adelaide.
The Nullabor [it means ‘no trees’] Plain is one of Australia’s iconic road trips. It is also crossed by the Indian-Pacific passenger train.
Inkosi means “the king” in Zulu, with plans for the eligible bachelor to sire calves in the future.
It’s an important move. Giraffe populations in the wild have declined by more than 40% in the past three decades.
If you are in Adelaide, pop along to Monarto Safari Park and say hello to Inkosi.
The kids will love it.