GIRAFFE TALES FROM THE MANOR

Every year, Giraffe Manor closes its doors for a brief period during our quieter time (which is when we get even busier doing renovations) so our giraffes had to make do with our faces only for a while! They kept themselves amused browsing in the sanctuary by day and popping into the manor to check for snacks, but wondering where all our friendly guests had gone. Don’t worry, we still found time to say hello to them with a treat or two. Our doors soon reopened to the delight of our long-necked beauties and they’ve been entertaining guests with their tongue licking, treat guzzling escapades ever since.

May I trouble you for some pellets?

Meanwhile, our dominant male Edd has been busy. Betty, Salma, Daisy, Kelly are all expecting baby twigas again. Giraffe gestation period is 15 months, so we won’t be meeting these new little faces until sometime in mid-2023. Betty and Kelly are expected to give birth in June, with Daisy and Salma following shortly behind in July.

Stacey and Mpingo

Now for some more sombre news. It is with heavy hearts that we said goodbye to our beloved Stacey, who passed away on 8th March 2022 aged 12. She left behind three children, Lily, Nandi and her youngest Tururu. She is being missed by her friends and guests alike. There is very little recorded evidence as to how long giraffes live for in the wild, but it is estimated that on average, females (cows) and males (bulls) can both live up to 25 years, whilst this tends to be longer in captivity. Thus, Stacey’s departure was premature and was sadly caused by complications during a veterinary procedure. This was being carried out at the AFEW Giraffe Centre next door to the manor by Kenya Wildlife Service vets in order to help her with an infected leg wound. We remember her as a gentle soul and her calm nature lives on in her littlest twiga Tururu.