After a public competition to name the giraffe calf, the seven-week-old has been named Matumi, a species of flowering evergreen tree found in southern Africa.

Adelaide Zoo’s Assistant Curator of Unuglates and Carnivores Chad Crittle announced the name on Thursday as the calf made its first official public appearance.

“Matumi is such a great name for the little guy; he is not only growing tall and strong like an African teak tree, but his personality is blooming here at Adelaide Zoo,” Crittle said.

“His name also reflects the hope we have for his species in the wild. Not many people realise but giraffe are threatened with extinction so our wish is to see populations become evergreen into the future.”

Other names suggested in the competition included Joshi, a Swahili word meaning ‘fast windward movement’, and Jameel, a Swahili borrowed word from Arabic meaning ‘beautiful’ or ‘masculine’.

Matumi has made himself at home at the Adelaide Zoo. Picture: Zoos SA

Matumi was born on January 5 at the Monarto Safari Park.

Although the initial signs of bonding were promising, his mother didn’t feed the calf within the first 24 hours of birth and the Zoos SA team decided to move him to the Adelaide Zoo for the best welfare outcome.

Matumi was introduced to the Adelaide Zoo giraffes earlier this week.

“Both three-year-old Nolean and 18-year-old Kimya have taken really well to him, in particular Kimya; she is smitten. He has been following them both around closely and is quickly following in their long footsteps,” Crittle said.

Kimya and Nolean have quickly bonded with Matumi. Photo: Zoos SA.

As part of the Zoo’s ‘African Oasis Master Plan’ upgrade, the giraffe exhibit will expand to provide over 5000 square metres of roaming space, making it one of the largest metropolitan giraffe exhibits in Australia.

The expanded exhibit will further provide a home for additional species such as nyala and common ostrich, and will offer views to and from the River Torrens.