Giraffe completes 24-hour road trip across Australia

After more than 24 hours of traveling in a specially designed crate mounted on a truck, Asali the giraffe reached South Australia's Monarto Zoo from Perth early Friday.

The 4.4-meter-high female giraffe, who completed the 2,200-km journey across the Nullarbor Plain, returned to the place she was born after being on loan to Perth's zoo.

"She's come back in the largest giraffe crate, pretty much ever, " Monarto Zoo keeper Mark Mills told the Australian Broadcasting Corporation.

"She appears nice and calm now, and giraffes do travel well, the hardest part is getting her in the box at the start of the journey."

Perth Zoo keepers spent the past six months teaching Asali to walk in and out of her transport crate to make her comfortable when traveling.

She was able to look out of her crate through an open hatch as she made the journey.

The eight-year-old is returning to her birthplace which has seen 37 calves born since 1995.

Mills said there was no special treatment for Asali, who would probably enjoy being back in an open range zoo.

"She'll hopefully remember, in some way, the animals that she's seen here years ago," he said.

Asali will spend the next four weeks in quarantine before joining seven other female giraffes in their enclosure at the open range zoo. Endi