Benito the giraffe arrived in Mexico鈥檚 arid northern border city of Ciudad Juarez just last month, and already the climate appears to be a problem 鈥� and he鈥檚 only had to deal with the scorching heat of summer.
The snow and freezing temperatures of winter are still to come, and animal activists are up in arms and pushing a campaign under the hashtag 鈥淪ave Benito鈥� seeking to have the animal moved somewhere more hospitable.
On a recent day, the 3-year-old male giraffe could be seen crouching with only its head under a small, circular canopy for shade. The structure did little to protect him from a pelting rain and a hail storm later.
There is also a small shed for winter, but activists say it is cruel for the city-run Central Park to keep the giraffe in a small fenced enclosure, by himself, with only about a half acre to wander and few trees to nibble, in a climate he鈥檚 not used to.
鈥淲e have been fighting for a month, a group of animal activists, to demand that he be taken to an animal sanctuary, a zoo, somewhere where there are appropriate facilities and qualified personnel to care for this type of animal,鈥� said Ana F茅lix, a Ciudad Juarez animal rights activist. 鈥淲e are in the desert here and the climate here is extreme in winter and in summer.鈥�
Blue Hills, a sanctuary ranch in Texas that rescues animals and books private tours to help offset the cost, has offered to buy or adopt Benito.
鈥淲e can offer him a brand new heated barn, so in the winter he doesn鈥檛 stand in the snow and freeze,鈥� ranch operator Matt Lieberman wrote in response to The Associated Press. 鈥淲e have an on-staff vet that cares for our animals and we have 24-hour staff for him.鈥�
He added that the giraffe would have 320 acres (130 hectares) to roam in. 鈥淗e doesn鈥檛 have any trees to browse from鈥� at the park in Mexico, Lieberman said. 鈥淗e needs trees to eat from and keep stimulated.鈥�
Benito appears to have just about finished off the only small trees within his reach at Central Park and can do little more than walk in circles.
Officials at the park reject the criticism, though they acknowledge they can鈥檛 provide more trees. They say they are working to improve Benito鈥檚 compound, saying his presence has been important in boosting the park鈥檚 popularity among visitors, largely children. Monthly visits rose from about 140,000 before Benito arrived to 200,000.
Park visitor Derek Reyes, 11, had mixed feelings about Benito.
鈥淗e could be fine here,鈥� Reyes said, 鈥渂ut it would also be good if they could take him to a place where they belong, with a herd.鈥�
Park director Rogelio Mu帽oz said authorities are planning to build Benito a new, heated winter house by September.
The park is also building a larger sun canopy for the giraffe and dredging out garbage and fetid water from a pool that takes up much of the enclosure. Benito will have fresh water in a trough.
鈥淭he conditions, attention and care in the habitat of the park鈥檚 new resident are optimal for his stay,鈥� the park wrote in a social media message.
Benito was donated by a zoo in the much more temperate climate of Sinaloa, a state on Mexico鈥檚 northern Pacific coast. Benito couldn鈥檛 stay with two other giraffes at the Sinaloa zoo because they were a couple, and the male could become territorial and attack the younger Benito.
The giraffe鈥檚 arrival was a point of pride for Ciudad Juarez, a tough, dusty city across from El Paso, Texas, that is best known for its hundreds of maquiladora assembly factories and its endemic gang violence. El Paso has giraffes at its zoo, the thinking goes, so why can鈥檛 Ciudad Juarez?
鈥淲e want to be like El Paso,鈥� Mu帽oz said.
Central Park, which also holds a few other animal species like ducks and donkeys, invited kids from across the city to come visit the new giraffe; the government of the border state of Chihuahua sponsored a contest among grade schoolers to name him.
The first prize 鈥� about $500 鈥� went to a little girl who proposed the name 鈥淏enito.鈥� One critic, Alfredo Casas, commented on Facebook, 鈥淭hey would have done better spending that money on better shade for the giraffe.鈥�
The park had a giraffe for 21 years named Modesto. He died last year, and activists say they don鈥檛 want his experience 鈥� being alone and sometimes caught in the snow and frost 鈥� to be repeated for Benito.
鈥淲hen Modesto died, we thought that was the end of it,鈥� said F茅lix. 鈥淏ut then they bring us a new animal, and that really isn鈥檛 fair. It isn鈥檛 fair to repeat the story of Modesto.鈥�
Mu帽oz acknowledged that Modesto鈥檚 life was far from the best 鈥� children who used to visit the giraffe would feed him potato chips and snack foods. But park officials have launched a campaign to teach kids to bring Benito only lettuce and carrots.
Mu帽oz said he also doesn鈥檛 want Benito to live out his life alone.
鈥淲hen his quarters are fixed up, his house, with heating 鈥� then we want to bring in a female, because he cannot be alone,鈥� Mu帽oz said.
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