Calgary Zoo’s giraffe acts in ‘The Last of Us’

The Calgary Zoo is proud of it’s bull Masai giraffe, “Nabo,” after participating in the filming of HBO’s season finale of The Last of Us.

“We always knew our bull Masai giraffe, ‘Nabo’ was a star, and now the world knows it too,” tweeted the zoo.

We always knew our bull Masai giraffe, 'Nabo' was a star, and now the world knows it too. ???????? Read more: https://t.co/4pDESHdJj4 #YourZooYYC pic.twitter.com/M5OFMn5P9E

— Calgary Zoo (@calgaryzoo) March 15, 2023

In a statement, the zoo says the welfare of it’s animals is the number priority.

“Everything we do begins and ends with the wellbeing of the animals we love and care for at the Wilder Institute/Calgary Zoo. This includes ensuring they have the choice to participate in all aspects of their daily routine (and control to choose not to participate at any time) and our internationally recognized high standards of animal welfare are maintained at all times,” reads the statement.

“The filming experience provided positive enrichment for Nabo. The HBO team showed great respect for our animal welfare practices and we wish the cast and crew the very best for Season 2.”

The zoo adds they are unable to provide interviews regarding Nabo’s acting role in The Last of Us due to contractional obligations to HBO.

It asks anyone who has further questions to contact The Last of Us’ PR team.

The Last of Us is based on the best-selling, critically-acclaimed PlayStation videogame of the same name, lauded for it’s deep narrative and characterization of the collapse of modern civilization after a fungal disease devastates humanity. Many have drawn comparisons from The Last of Us to another widely-popular HBO show, Game of Thrones — in terms of its scale, budget, and ambition.

The series is also the largest film or television production in Canadian history. It began filming in and around Calgary in 2021.

Calgary’s Mayor Gondek says the show’s quality makes her believe Calgary and Alberta will be moving up on the list of best places to film movies and TV series in Canada.

“I can tell you that it is through the strength of the facilities we have here, the infrastructure that has been either repurposed or purpose-built. We’ve got crews here that are incredible, we’ve got a lot of talent. And we’re committed, we’re committed to the industry. I know that the provincial government has provided incentives, I can tell you that the city has a film-friendly strategy. So we’ve all been pulling together to make sure that people understand how film and TV friendly we are,” Gondek explained.

“And it’s paying off, we’re seeing more and more interest and more and more advocacy from people that do produce here telling their partners in the industry to come to Calgary and come to Alberta if they want to do great production.”