Photo: A young giraffe named Susan bounds off the barge after her trip to the mainland. Northern Rangeland Trust.
How do you save a herd of giraffes trapped on a rapidly sinking island? Float them to the mainland on a custom-built barge -- a "GiRaft." That’s how a months-long rescue operation in Kenya concluded on April 12, delivering the last of nine stranded giraffes to safety. Of a highly endangered subspecies called Rothchild’s giraffes, they had been living on Longicharo Island in Kenya’s Lake Baringo since 2011. But rising waters repeatedly flooded their habitat, and conservationists, concerned that the giraffes could no longer find enough food on the island, decided to evacuate the animals. People from two Kenyan communities, Njemps and Pokot, collaborated on the rescue, ending years of conflict between them.
|
|
More:
