TRAVEL/ANIMALS/AFRICA

Petting and Feeding a Giraffe Was a Highlight on My Trip to Kenya

They are much bigger than I realized

This Rothschild giraffe was a giant! — photo KJH.

The Africa Fund for Endangered Wildlife (A.F.E.W.) Kenya was founded in 1979 by the late Jock and Betty Leslie-Melville.

They began the Giraffe Centre after discovering the sad plight of the Rothschild Giraffe, subspecies of the giraffe found only in the grasslands of East Africa.

At the time, the animals had lost their habitat in Western Kenya, with only 130 of them left on the 18,000-acre Soy Ranch that was being sub-divided to resettle squatters.

Their first effort to save the subspecies was to bring two young giraffes, Daisy and Marlon, to their home. Here they raised the calves and started a program of breeding the giraffes in captivity. (AFEW (K) Ltd. — Giraffe Centre, 2019)

However, now there are over 300 Rothschild Giraffes safe and breeding in various Kenyan national parks.

The Center opened to the public in 1983 and has become world-famous as a Nature Education Centre.

Thousands of tourists and Kenyan schoolchildren pass through there yearly.

On our first day in Kenya, we visited this beautiful refuge for the Rothschild…