Animal park owner bunks with giraffe

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NEW CASTLE, Pa., June 25 (UPI) -- The owner of a private zoo in Pennsylvania says he is the first person he knows of to become roommates with a giraffe.

Adam Guiher, owner of the Living Treasures Animal Park near New Castle, said he had a special structure built at the facility to house himself and Levi, a 7-month-old giraffe he obtained from a small zoo when his mother rejected him at 3 weeks old, The Youngstown (Ohio) Vindicator reported Monday.

Guiher said Levi, who currently stands at 9 feet tall and will grow to be about 18 feet tall, can walk in and out of his 24-foot-high room whenever he wants to escape from weather. He said the house also includes the typical rooms needed by humans, including an office, a master bedroom, a kitchen and a spare bedroom.

The park owner said the 350 animals in the private zoo are like "immediate family" to him, "but [Levi] especially, because when I wake up, he's the first one I see."