If you have been following my posts I spent 3 weeks in June in Kenya Being a photographer for Global Resolve. As part of my Kenya series I want to highlight different animals. Today's highlight is the giraffe.
There are three ways to say giraffe in Maa
Olcharkuk
Oloodo Kirragata
and my favorite Olmeut
Did you know that there are 4 species of giraffes and 6 subspecies?
I got to see two different species or types of giraffes while I was in Kenya, the Northern, subspecies- the Rothchild's and the Masai giraffes.
You can tell giraffes by their spots. Luckily the two types I saw have totally different spots and were easy to tell apart from each other.
Rothchild's Giraffe
In my last post Share My World: 3 Days in Nairobi I talked about our visit to the Giraffe center in Nairobi and how it rescues Rothchild's giraffes.
Here you can see the the spots. According to Giraffe World:
Their coat consists of dark brown and dark orange patches and then areas of beige through them. Their markings stop at the top of the knee caps, below that area the spots disappear, and everything below that point down is whitish.
The center teaches about the giraffe and allows visitors to pet and feed them too.
There was even some giraffe kissing. If you put the food in your mouth the giraffe will take it from your lips and it looks like you are getting a giraffe kiss.
In the center vs in the wild
I was so fun to be able to see, touch, and feed these giraffes at the center. Of course you can't do that when they are out in the wild. The beauty of them out in the wild, for me, was seeing them walk. I loved watching them gracefully maneuver so much height (up to 19.5 feet) and weight (up to 3,000 pounds).
Masai Giraffe
The Masai giraffe have jagged spots and the spots continue down their legs.
Giraffe Worlds indicates that the Masai giraffes spend 16-20 hours a day eating or looking for food and they eat up to 75 pounds of food each day!
They eat the vegetation on the savanna with the Acacia leaves being their favorite.
Another cool fact is that they get water from the Acacia leaves and can go days without drinking water.
From Giraffe Worlds we also learn that the gestation of a Masai giraffe is 14 months and "the calf is about 6 feet tall at birth and can be up to 200 pounds in weight. In about twenty minutes or an hour, they can walk." Amazing!
What beautiful creatures!
One of the most magical experiences of my time in Kenya was when we were driving back to camp from Talek and there was a herd of 20 or more giraffes walking into the sunset. I was sitting by Savannah and her reaction to the beauty we were witnessing is as precious to me as the sight of those giraffes walking into the sunset together.
Kenya series
Birds of Kenya
Share My World: Being a photographer for Global Resolve
Share My World: 3 days in Nairobi