Engineers make giraffe's life easier

Posted on July 02, 2010

A group of students, enrolled for the compulsory undergraduate module, Community-Based Project (JCP) did maintenance work on the giraffe hoist feeder of the National Zoological Gardens (Pretoria Zoo). The purpose of the feeder is to hoist hay and other food up in the air so the giraffe can eat comfortably. The hoist feeder was built by 2009-JCP students.

The students, Marnus Espag, Michael Kapp, Christelle Robbertse and J van der Merwe realized that there was a design flaw in the system and started planning to correct it. Once planning was complete and the supplies were bought, they started implementing their new design. After it was corrected, they tested the lift by hoisting one of their team members up in the air - with great success. The giraffe, Tom-Tom, was happy to be able to eat his food like nature intended it – way up there!

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