If Audrey Hepburn were an animal ......
If Audrey Hepburn were an animal …..
If Audrey Hepburn were an animal, I think she’d be a giraffe. Giraffes win the prize for elegance, beauty and grace. Those big eyes, those long lashes, that neck and super long legs! The tallest mammal on earth, it amazing to see them grazing the acacia treetops in the wild.
No question, giraffes, like elephants have a lot of fans. I have over 3200 images of giraffes in my photo archives. The two giraffe pillows I brought to the Book Launch and photo exhibition were scooped up in the first hour.
Seeing giraffes in the wild really drives home how tall they are. Males can reach 5.5 M or 18’. Females are slightly shorter. When you see giraffes hanging out with zebra herds the height between the animals is dramatic. If you had a giraffe in your back yard, you would have to feed it from the second story window!
Giraffes have a uniquely smooth gait because their legs work in parallel – left foreleg and left back leg, right foreleg and right back leg. Most four-legged animals have a 1-2-3-4 gait, front left, back right, front right back left. Did you know a group of giraffes are called a tower and a moving group of giraffes is called a journey?
The Giraffe Centre in Nairobi is one of my favourite places to meet giraffes up close and personal. Visitors can climb up to a viewing platform eye level with the endangered Rothchild giraffes in the sanctuary. The giraffes come over to visitors to lick up food pellets with their 53 cm/18” long tongues.
Their long tongue is perfect for reaching out for the small leaves on thorny acacia trees. Giraffes have antiseptic saliva to cope with any wounds the thorns might inflict. That fact made me comfortable putting a pellet in my mouth and inviting Daisy the giraffe to give me a kiss. She was happy to oblige.
In the wild giraffes guzzle up to 45kg of leaves and twigs a day. It takes a lot of food to sustain such a big animal. Habitat loss is one of the main reasons for their declining numbers.
Giraffes get most of their water from the leaves they eat. They are very cautious when they drink, which is only every few days. It is difficult for a giraffe to reach water because their necks are too short to reach the ground. They do giraffe gymnastics to get down low. This position leaves them vulnerable to predator attacks, so a giraffe drink is usually a quick event. I was delighted when giraffes came to our lodge’s water hole during lunch last June. It was a safe location with good access to water. My lunch was forgotten as I ran for my camera to capture the giraffes that showed up to quench their thirst.
The giraffe population in Africa has declined by 40% in the last three decades. Saving Giraffes is a National Geographic film about how Save Giraffes Now, The Ruko Conservancy, Northern Rangelands Trust and the Kenya Wildlife Service rescued nine endangered Rothchild’s giraffe from a sinking island in Lake Baringo and reintroduced them to the mainland after being extinct in the region for 70 years. The film tells the incredible story of how the Ruko community – two tribes previously at war – came together in peace to save these giraffes and create a 44,000 acre wildlife conservancy. Released on National Geographic Wild Channel earlier this month, it is coming soon to DISNEY +. Watch for it, it is an incredible story of hope and teamwork.
My photo exhibit continues to Saturday Oct. 8th. I hope you will drop in to view the show. Come in or shop online for some early Christmas shopping and support conservation in East Africa!