Rice students create a new way to feed giraffes at the Houston Zoo

A Rice University engineering team's challenge was to design a feeder for giraffes that is safe and prevents the animals from consuming the hay it contains too quickly.

Using plastic pipe, the team made a barrel-like cylinder about 4 feet long and cut 3-inch circular holes into it. Filled, the barrel device holds about 7,500 cubic inches of hay. Giraffes use their tongues to grasp their food, and the small holes prevent them from quickly emptying the contents. The feeders are suspended 10 to 13 feet above the ground by winches attached to a wooden pole.

"The students worked hard on a design that met the goals of challenging the giraffes to work to get their food from the feeder and making it convenient for the keepers to get the food into it," said John Register, the zoo's hoofed stock supervisor. "They did several prototypes and tested them on our giraffe herd. We're happy with the final design and plan to use it."

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[YakimaGulag]

This is so great for the giraffes, they seem to like it, and they seem like especially friendly giraffes.

[Azeem Hussain]

Y'all are awesome. This Andrew Markham kid seems supermegafoxyawesomehot.

[Mark Frazier]

Awesome video!!!