Endangered giraffes and 'punk pigs' enjoy slap-up Valentine's Day meal

Zookeepers at the UK’s largest zoo in Whipsnade, have been trying to matchmake for some of the zoo's endangered giraffes and critically endangered "punk pigs".

Two Visayan warty pigs, Manny and Pixie, were given a heart-shaped platter of carrots, sweet potatoes and apples.

They are often referred to as "punk pigs" because of their spiky, long manes.

Team leader Donovan Glyn said: “Valentine’s Day is for everyone, and while it’s vital for us to bring together our elegant, endangered giraffes for the conservation of their species, we care just as much about our lesser-known and critically-endangered Visayan warty pigs.

“For our male pig Manny, this is tantamount to his first date. He’s young and is still working out what to do with the ladies. His tusks are starting to come through, and he’s beginning to grow the spiky ‘punk hairstyle’ that male Visayan warty pigs are known for. Although fairly small now, as a male, he will grow twice as heavy as Pixie in time.

“Giraffe dating is a bit different to ours. When a male giraffe wants to mate, he brushes her bottom with his nose to encourage her to urinate. When she does, he tastes the urine for hormones, to work out whether she is ovulating. It’s maybe not what a human would look for in a date, but it certainly gets the job done!

“Many of Whipsnade Zoo’s 10,000 animals are part of vital, conservation breeding programmes. Hopefully our ‘romantic dinners’ will encourage our animals to get to know each other better, and if we are lucky, we will hear the pitter-patter of tiny hooves in the not-so-distant future!”