Giraffe Centre

I think giraffes are among the coolest animals I've seen here. This conservancy gives one a closer look at these beautiful animals. I'm glad I arrived before a couple of coaches..

A Kenyan-British-American couple bought the estate, which is now the adjacent expensive Giraffe Lodge hotel in the early 1970s, and learned that there were only 130 Rothschild giraffes left in the world. They caught two and soon had five, so they set up a centre in the mid-70's . There are 10 here now -- a male and 3 breeding females and their offspring who get released into parks and reserves when they are six. There are now a thousand giraffes in the world.

For your admission, you are given a little bowl of dry treats that you can feed to the giraffes by holding it in your fingers (never on a flat palm) and leaving it on their very long (almost a half metre long!) soft tongue. Lots of interesting facts about giraffes were learned. The centre is part of a Kenyan wildlife program that is trying to do a lot of education, including bringing kids in.

Some Fun Facts: Giraffes eat 35-65kg per day, mostly tree leaves, their favourite being acacia which are thorny, so their tongues and mouths have a tough lining. They are 2m tall at birth and males grow as tall as 5.5m. They have a 15 month gestation, are sexually mature at 3 years and live to 25 years in the wild. They sleep in 5 to 30 minute naps for only a couple of hours total, sometimes while standing or lying down, but always with heads held up.

There is a not very interesting but peaceful and cool nature walk across the road.Weiterlesen