San Antonio Zoo wants to save Toys R Us’ Geoffrey from extinction

A Geoffrey toy is is displayed inside of a Toys R' Us store on September 19, 2017.

Credit: Justin Sullivan

Credit: Justin Sullivan

A Geoffrey toy is is displayed inside of a Toys R' Us store on September 19, 2017.

The San Antonio Zoo is using today’s closing of the Toys R Us chain of stores to highlight the issue of giraffe  conservation.

The zoo is looking to adopt Geoffrey the giraffe, the toy store's mascot, to raise awareness about the plight of the giraffe population.

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"We think Geoffrey can live through inspiring generations of zoo-goers to care for giraffes and learn about the challenges they are facing in the wild," Tim Morrow, CEO and executive director of San Antonio Zoological Society said in a statement.

The zoo has since set up a GoFundMe to raise money for the Giraffe Conservation Foundation. The nonprofit says there are only 100,000 giraffes in the wild. The San Antonio Zoo hope to raise more than $100,000 to persuade the owners of Toys R Us to donate the use of Geoffrey to save the giraffes that are left.