- The giraffe was moved from Longicharo Island due to the rising lake levels which threaten its future
- Seven other giraffes, however, remain on the island
- Two will be moved at the end of the week while the other five will be moved in early 2021
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The Kenya Wildlife Service (KWS) and the Ruko Community Conservancy have moved one Rothschild’s giraffe from Longicharo Island on the eastern shores of Lake Baringo to the mainland.
The endangered giraffe was rescued as a result of the rising lake levels which threatens its future.
The ambitious rescue effort was a partnership with the Northern Rangelands Trust and the US nonprofit Save Giraffes Now.
Seven other giraffes remain on the island; two are due to be moved over the next few days and the rest in the next few months, a joint statement from the partners read.
”The survival of these giraffes is critical to our ongoing efforts to implement the National Giraffe Recovery Strategy to 2020-2025,” said Patrick Omondi, KWS Director of Biodiversity Research and Planning.
“At the sanctuary, they are safe from the rising waters and they will be protected from predators, poachers and other threats," he added.
The adult female giraffe that was moved on Wednesday, December 2, is identified as Asiwa.
Two juvenile females, Susan and Pasaka (also known as Easter), are scheduled to be moved later this week.
The four remaining adult females, Nkarikoni, Nalangu, Awala and Nasieku, and one adult male, Lbarnnoti, will be moved early next year.
Asiwa is said to have travelled well and is now getting accustomed to her new location.
The giraffes were originally moved to Ruko in 2011 in a bid to reintroduce Rothschild’s giraffes, also known as the Baringo giraffes, back to their endemic range.
Today, fewer than 3,000 Rothschild’s giraffes are left in Africa, with about 800 in Kenya.
The giraffe came to epitomise the transformational impact of nurturing peace through the community conservation model.
A good example was the previously conflicting IlChamus and Pokot communities which came together under one community conservancy – Ruko - to protect them.
“The re-introduction of the Baringo giraffe in 2011 to the island has been very critical, we welcomed the efforts to allow the species to come back home where it belongs and be a catalyst in part of lager efforts of finding lasting peace between the two communities," said Rebby Sebei, the Ruko Community Conservancy manager.
"We set aside our differences to protect this unique species, of which less than a thousand remain in Kenya,” he added.
Approval to move the giraffes to a purpose-built sanctuary on the mainland was granted by the KWS after lake levels started to rise by an estimated six inches a day.
This turned the giraffe’s original home into an ever-shrinking island, with remaining food sources becoming scarce.
The Ruko giraffes have also faced challenges in breeding. Eight calves have been born but just two have survived.
The others are thought to have been lost to python predation, nutritional deficiencies and other natural causes – further necessitating the need for them to be moved.
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