In Kenya, Giraffes can be found in the savannah grasslands and forests of the national parks and reserves of the country. They are being threatened by habitat loss due to human activities such as land clearing and overgrazing. In addition, they are at risk of poaching for their meat and hide. To protect the Giraffes in Kenya, the government and local conservation organizations are working to create protected areas, like the conservancies in which we stayed, increasing anti-poaching efforts, and raising awareness of the importance of these animals.

We saw two different species of Giraffe on safari; the Reticulated Giraffe which is only found in Northern Kenya and the Masai Giraffe, which we saw in the two conservancies near the Masai Mara.

Giraffes grazing on a Whistling Acacia tree. The tree produces galls with a minute hole at their base. Tiny Cocktail Ants live in the galls. As grazing animals, like the Giraffe, tap the galls, the ants come out and annoy the animals by getting up their noses. In this way, the Whistling Acacia is protected from over grazing. The sound of the wind blowing through the holes in the galls sounds like someone whistling, thereby giving the tree its name.

Someone is clearly enjoying these majestic anaimals!

At cross purposes!

Family of Giraffes grazing with Wildebeest

Baby Giraffe (far right) with umbilical cord still attached, indicating that it is under two weeks old

Mother and calf on the plain

A group of Giraffes are called a ‘Dazzle’, but when travelling in convoy they are a ‘Journey’ of Giraffes.