Giraffe has been declared Kosher

A view of two giraffes from the neck up, with trees and shrubs behind them. Even though I don't know very much about Kosher law, I do know that one who keeps Kosher can only eat certain animal proteins. Now you can add giraffe to that list.

Recently at the Safari Park, Israel's largest zoo, vets took some milk from a female giraffe and sent it to some Rabbi's to see if it was Kosher. Turns out it is. The Rabbi's said that the milk formed curds correctly, and since giraffes "belong to the family of grazing animals that have cloven hooves and chew the cud" they should be considered Kosher.

What I don't get is why, if the vets were treating the female for something, did they send its milk to Rabbi's for Kosher consideration? That point wasn't really addressed in the Telegraph Online article. Oh well, I guess there's now one more option for those who keep Kosher!