Giraffes starting to take shape ahead of zoo milestone (From Gazette)

Giraffes starting to take shape ahead of zoo milestone

3:00pm Monday 4th March 2013 in News

ARTISTS are getting ready for the next phase of a project to mark Colchester Zoo’s 50th anniversary.

Yesterday, the first of 30 giraffes to be used in the zoo’s Stand Tall summer campaign, was starting to take shape.

 

The first giraffe, nicknamed Jungle Jenny, sponsored by Colchester department store Williams and Griffin, began being decorated by Braintree artist Jenny Leonard.

Muralist Mrs Leonard said: “This is a great way to raise money for charity and create awareness of Colchester Zoo’s 50th birthday.

“I’m really happy to be a part of the zoo’s celebrations.”

Mrs Leonard’s design was one of hundreds of submissions businesses sponsoring the event had to pick from to put on display around the town for 12 weeks from June 2.

Lorraine Barnett, of Williams and Griffin, said: “We fell in love with Jenny’s idea for our giraffe and can’t wait to see the finished product.

“As a company, Williams and Griffin is very proud to sponsor Stand Tall for Giraffes and we hope it raises lots of money for the zoo’s very worthy charity later in the year.”

At the end of the 12 weeks, each of the 30 giraffes will be auctioned off to raise money for Colchester Zoo charity, Wild in Art.