Giraffes Some biologist suggest that the emergence of the long neck on a giraffe was driven more by sexual success.

Jean-Patrick Suraud

Things Are Looking Up for Niger’s Wild Giraffes

In desolate Niger, wild giraffes are making a comeback despite having to compete for resources with some of the world's poorest people

  • By Jennifer Margulis
  • Smithsonian magazine, November 2008

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    In the dry season, they are hard to find. Food is scarce in Niger's bush and the animals are on the move, loping miles a day to eat the tops of acacia and combretum trees. I'm in the back seat of a Land Rover and two guides are sitting on the roof. We're looking for some of the only giraffes in the world that roam entirely in unprotected habitat.

    Though it's well over 90 degrees Fahrenheit by 10 a.m., the guides find it chilly and are wearing parkas, and one of them, Kimba Idé, has pulled a blue woolen toque over his ears. Idé bangs on the windshield with a long stick to direct the driver: left, right, right again. Frantic tapping means slow down. Pointing into the air means speed up. But it's hard to imagine going any faster. We are off-road, and the bumps pitch us so high that my seat belt cuts into my neck and my tape recorder flies into the front seat, prompting the driver to laugh. Thorny bushes scraping the truck's paint sound like fingernails on a chalkboard. I don't know what to worry about more: the damage the truck might be causing to the ecosystem or the very real possibility we might flip over.

    While Africa may have as many as 100,000 giraffes, most of them live in wildlife reserves, private sanctuaries, national parks or other protected areas not inhabited by humans. Niger's giraffes, however, live alongside villagers, most of whom are subsistence farmers from the Zarma ethnic group. Nomadic Peuls, another group, also pass through the area herding cattle. The "giraffe zone," where the animals spend most of their time, is about 40 square miles, although their full range is about 650 square miles. I've seen villagers cutting millet, oblivious to giraffes foraging nearby—a picturesque tableau. But Niger is one of the poorest, most desolate places on earth—it has consistently ranked at or near the bottom of the 177 nations on the United Nation's Human Development Index—and people and giraffes are both fighting for survival, competing for some of the same scarce resources in this dry, increasingly deforested land.

    There are nine giraffe subspecies, each distinguished by its range and the color and pattern of its coat. The endangered Giraffa camelopardalis peralta is the one found in Niger and only Niger; it has large orange-brown spots on its body that fade to white on its legs. (The reticulated subspecies, known for its sharply defined chestnut brown spots, is found in many zoos.) In the 19th century, thousands of peralta giraffes lived in West Africa, from Mauritania to Niger, in the semiarid land known as the Sahel. By 1996, fewer than 50 remained because of hunting, deforestation and development; the subspecies was heading for extinction.

    That was about the time I first went to Niger, to work for a development organization called Africare/Niger in the capital city of Niamey. I recall being struck by the heartbreaking beauty of the desert, the way people managed to live with so little—they imported used tires from Germany, drove on them until they were bald and then used them as soles for their shoes—and the slower pace of life. We drank mint tea loaded with sugar and sat for hours waiting for painted henna designs to dry on our skin. "I don't know how anyone can visit West Africa and want to live anywhere else in the world," I wrote in my journal as an idealistic 23-year-old.

    Two nights a week I taught English at the American Culture Center, where one of my students was a young French ethologist named Isabelle Ciofolo. She spent her days following the giraffes to observe their behavior. She would study the herd for 12 years and was the first to publish research about it. In 1994, she helped found the Association to Safeguard the Giraffes of Niger (ASGN), which protects giraffe habitat, educates the local population about giraffes, and provides microloans and other aid to villagers in the giraffe zone. The ASGN also participates in an annual giraffe census. Which is how I ended up, some 15 years after I first met Ciofolo, in a bucking Land Rover on a giraffe observation expedition that she was leading with Omer Dovi, the Nigerien operations manager for ASGN.

    Working on a tip that a large group of giraffes had been spotted the night before, we spend more than two hours looking for them in the bush before we veer off into the savanna. Another hour goes by before Dovi shouts, "There they are!" The driver cuts the Land Rover's engine and we approach the animals on foot: a towering male with large brown spots, two females and three nurslings, which are all ambling through the bush.

    The adult giraffes pause and regard us nonchalantly before going back to their browsing. The nurslings, which are only a few weeks old and as frisky as colts, stop and stare at us, batting enormous Mae West eyelashes. Their petal-shaped ears are cocked forward beside their furry horns (which, Ciofolo says, are not really horns but ossicones made from cartilage and covered with skin). Not even the guides can tell if the nurslings are male or female. Once a giraffe matures, the distinction is easy: peralta males grow a third ossicone. The census-takers note three baby giraffes of indeterminate gender.

    In the dry season, they are hard to find. Food is scarce in Niger's bush and the animals are on the move, loping miles a day to eat the tops of acacia and combretum trees. I'm in the back seat of a Land Rover and two guides are sitting on the roof. We're looking for some of the only giraffes in the world that roam entirely in unprotected habitat.

    Though it's well over 90 degrees Fahrenheit by 10 a.m., the guides find it chilly and are wearing parkas, and one of them, Kimba Idé, has pulled a blue woolen toque over his ears. Idé bangs on the windshield with a long stick to direct the driver: left, right, right again. Frantic tapping means slow down. Pointing into the air means speed up. But it's hard to imagine going any faster. We are off-road, and the bumps pitch us so high that my seat belt cuts into my neck and my tape recorder flies into the front seat, prompting the driver to laugh. Thorny bushes scraping the truck's paint sound like fingernails on a chalkboard. I don't know what to worry about more: the damage the truck might be causing to the ecosystem or the very real possibility we might flip over.

    While Africa may have as many as 100,000 giraffes, most of them live in wildlife reserves, private sanctuaries, national parks or other protected areas not inhabited by humans. Niger's giraffes, however, live alongside villagers, most of whom are subsistence farmers from the Zarma ethnic group. Nomadic Peuls, another group, also pass through the area herding cattle. The "giraffe zone," where the animals spend most of their time, is about 40 square miles, although their full range is about 650 square miles. I've seen villagers cutting millet, oblivious to giraffes foraging nearby—a picturesque tableau. But Niger is one of the poorest, most desolate places on earth—it has consistently ranked at or near the bottom of the 177 nations on the United Nation's Human Development Index—and people and giraffes are both fighting for survival, competing for some of the same scarce resources in this dry, increasingly deforested land.

    There are nine giraffe subspecies, each distinguished by its range and the color and pattern of its coat. The endangered Giraffa camelopardalis peralta is the one found in Niger and only Niger; it has large orange-brown spots on its body that fade to white on its legs. (The reticulated subspecies, known for its sharply defined chestnut brown spots, is found in many zoos.) In the 19th century, thousands of peralta giraffes lived in West Africa, from Mauritania to Niger, in the semiarid land known as the Sahel. By 1996, fewer than 50 remained because of hunting, deforestation and development; the subspecies was heading for extinction.

    That was about the time I first went to Niger, to work for a development organization called Africare/Niger in the capital city of Niamey. I recall being struck by the heartbreaking beauty of the desert, the way people managed to live with so little—they imported used tires from Germany, drove on them until they were bald and then used them as soles for their shoes—and the slower pace of life. We drank mint tea loaded with sugar and sat for hours waiting for painted henna designs to dry on our skin. "I don't know how anyone can visit West Africa and want to live anywhere else in the world," I wrote in my journal as an idealistic 23-year-old.

    Two nights a week I taught English at the American Culture Center, where one of my students was a young French ethologist named Isabelle Ciofolo. She spent her days following the giraffes to observe their behavior. She would study the herd for 12 years and was the first to publish research about it. In 1994, she helped found the Association to Safeguard the Giraffes of Niger (ASGN), which protects giraffe habitat, educates the local population about giraffes, and provides microloans and other aid to villagers in the giraffe zone. The ASGN also participates in an annual giraffe census. Which is how I ended up, some 15 years after I first met Ciofolo, in a bucking Land Rover on a giraffe observation expedition that she was leading with Omer Dovi, the Nigerien operations manager for ASGN.

    Working on a tip that a large group of giraffes had been spotted the night before, we spend more than two hours looking for them in the bush before we veer off into the savanna. Another hour goes by before Dovi shouts, "There they are!" The driver cuts the Land Rover's engine and we approach the animals on foot: a towering male with large brown spots, two females and three nurslings, which are all ambling through the bush.

    The adult giraffes pause and regard us nonchalantly before going back to their browsing. The nurslings, which are only a few weeks old and as frisky as colts, stop and stare at us, batting enormous Mae West eyelashes. Their petal-shaped ears are cocked forward beside their furry horns (which, Ciofolo says, are not really horns but ossicones made from cartilage and covered with skin). Not even the guides can tell if the nurslings are male or female. Once a giraffe matures, the distinction is easy: peralta males grow a third ossicone. The census-takers note three baby giraffes of indeterminate gender.

    We watch the statuesque animals galumph forward in the bush. They are affectionate, intertwining necks and walking so closely that their flanks touch. They seem in constant physical contact, and I am struck by how much they seem to enjoy each other's presence.

    I ask Ciofolo if she thinks giraffes are intelligent. "I'm not sure how to evaluate the intelligence of a giraffe," she says. "They engage in subtle communication with each other"—grunts, snorts, whistles, bleats—"and we have observed that they are able to figure things out." Ciofolo says a giraffe she named Penelope years ago (the scientists now designate individual animals less personally, with numbers) "clearly knew who I was and had assessed that I was not a threat to her. She let me get quite close to her. But when other people approached, she got skittish. Penelope was able to distinguish perfectly between a person who was nonthreatening and people who represented a potential threat."

    A year later, in late 2007, I return to Niger and go into the bush with Jean-Patrick Suraud, a doctoral student from the University of Lyon and an ASGN adviser, to observe another census. It takes us only half an hour to find a cluster of seven giraffes. Suraud points out a male that is closely following a female. The giraffe nuzzles her genitals, which prompts her to urinate. He bends his long neck and catches some urine on his muzzle, then raises his head and twists his long black tongue, baring his teeth. Male giraffes, like snakes, elephants and some other animals, have a sensory organ in their mouth, called Jacobson's organ, that enables them to tell if a female is fertile from the taste of her urine. "It's very practical," Suraud says with a laugh. "You don't have to take her out to dinner, you don't have to buy her flowers."

    Although the female pauses to let the male test her, she walks away. He does not follow. Presumably she is not fertile. He meanders off to browse.

    If a female is fertile, the male will try to mount her. The female may keep walking, causing the male's forelegs to fall awkwardly back to the ground. In the only successful coupling Suraud has witnessed, a male pursued a female—walking alongside her, rubbing her neck, swaying his long body to get her attention—for more than three hours before she finally accepted him. The act itself was over in less than ten seconds.

    Suraud is the only scientist known to have witnessed a peralta giraffe give birth. In 2005, after just six months in the field, he was stunned when he came upon a female giraffe with two hoofs sticking out of her vagina. "The giraffe gave birth standing up," he recalls. "The calf fell [six feet] to the ground and rolled a bit." Suraud smacks the top of the truck to illustrate the force of the landing. "I'd read about it before, but still, the fall was brutal. I remember thinking, ‘Ouch, that's a crazy way to come into the world.'" The fall, he goes on, "cuts the umbilical cord in one swift motion." Suraud then watched the mother lick the calf and eat part of the placenta. Less than an hour later, the calf had nursed and the two were on the move.

    Though mother and calf stay together, groups of giraffes are constantly forming and re-forming in a process scientists call fission-fusion, similar to chimpanzee grouping. It is as common for half a dozen males to forage together as it is for three females and a male. In the rainy season, when food is plentiful, you might find a herd of 20 or more giraffes.

    Unlike with chimps, however, it is almost impossible to identify an alpha male among giraffes. Still, Suraud says he has seen male giraffes mount other males in mock copulation, often after a fight. He's not sure what to make of the behavior but suggests it may be a type of dominance display, though there doesn't seem to be an overarching power hierarchy.

    Competition among males—which grow to 18 feet tall and weigh as much as 3,000 pounds—for access to females, which are slightly smaller, can be fierce. Males sometimes slam each other with their necks. Seen from afar, a fight might look balletic, but the blows can be brutal. Idé says he witnessed a fight several years ago in which the vanquished giraffe bled to death.

    As it happens, the evolution of the animal's neck is a matter of some debate. Charles Darwin wrote in The Origin of Species that the giraffe is "beautifully adapted for browsing on the higher branches of trees." But some biologists suggest that the emergence of the distinctive trait was driven more by sexual success: males with longer necks won more battles, mated more often and passed on the advantage to future generations.

    Still, wild giraffes need a lot of trees. They live up to 25 years and eat from 75 to 165 pounds of leaves per day. During the dry season, Niger's giraffes get most of their water from leaves and the morning dew. They're a bit like camels. "If water is available, they drink and drink and drink," says Suraud. "But, in fact, they seem not to have a need for it."

    Dovi points out places in the savanna where villagers have cut down trees. "The problem is not that they take wood for their own use; there's enough for that," he says. "The problem is that they cut down trees to sell to the market in Niamey."

    Most woodcutting is prohibited in the giraffe zone. But Lt. Col. Kimba Ousseini, commander of the Nigerien government's Environmental Protection Brigade, says people break the law, despite penalties of between 20,000 and 300,000 CFA francs (approximately $40 to $600) as well as imprisonment. He estimates that 10 to 15 people are fined each year. Yet wood is used to heat houses and fuel cookfires, and stacks and stacks of spindly branches are for sale at the side of the road to Niamey.

    When you walk alongside the towering giraffes, close enough to hear the swish-swish of their tails as they gambol past, it's hard not to be indignant about the destruction of their habitat. But Zarma villagers cut down trees because they have few other ways to make money. They live off their crops and are totally dependent on the rainy season to irrigate their millet fields. "Of course they understand why they shouldn't do it!" Ousseini says. "But they tell us they need the money to survive."

    The ASGN is trying to help the giraffes by making small loans to villagers and promoting tourism and other initiatives. In the village of Kanaré, women gathered near a well constructed with ASGN funds. By bringing aid to the region in the name of protecting giraffes, ASGN hopes the villagers will see the animals as less of a threat to their livelihood. A woman named Amina, who has six children and was sitting in the shade on a wire-and-metal chair, says she benefited from an ASGN microloan that enabled her to buy goats and sheep, which she fattened and sold. "Giraffes have brought happiness here," Amina says in Zarma through an interpreter. "Their presence brings us lots of things."

    At the same time, giraffes can be a nuisance. They occasionally eat crops such as niebe beans, which look like black-eyed peas and are crushed into flour. (We ate tasty niebe-flour beignets for breakfast in a village called Harikanassou, where we spent the night on thin mattresses under mosquito nets.) Giraffes splay their legs and bend their long necks to eat mature beans right before harvest. They also forage on the succulent orange mangoes that ripen temptingly at giraffe-eye height.

    The villager's feelings about the giraffes, from what I gather after speaking with them, are not unlike what people in my small town in southern Oregon feel about deer and elk: they admire the animals from a distance but turn against them if they raid their gardens. "If we leave our niebe in the fields, the giraffes will eat it," explains Ali Hama, the village chief of Yedo. "We've had problems with that. So now we harvest it and bring it into the village to keep it away from the giraffes." Despite having to do this extra step, Hama says his villagers appreciate the giraffes because the animals have brought development to the region.

    Unlike giraffes in other parts of Africa, Niger's giraffes have no animal predators. But they face other dangers. During the rainy season, giraffes often come to the Kollo road, about 40 miles east of Niamey, to nibble on shrubs that spring from the hard orange earth. On two occasions in 2006, a bush taxi hit and killed a giraffe at dusk. No people were injured, but the deaths were a significant loss to the small animal population. Villagers feasted on the one-ton animals.

    The Niger government outlaws the killing of giraffes, and Col. Abdou Malam Issa, a Ministry of the Environment official, says the administration spends about $40,000 annually on anti-poaching enforcement. In addition, Niger has received money from environmental groups around the world to support the giraffes. As a result, giraffes face little danger of being killed as long as they stay within Niger. But when a group of seven peraltas strayed into Nigeria in 2007, government officials from Niger were unable to alert Nigerian officials quickly enough. Villagers killed one of the giraffes and ate it.

    Niger's government hasn't always been disposed to help the giraffes. In 1996, after seizing power in a coup d'état, Ibrahim Baré Mainassara wanted to give two giraffes each to the presidents of Burkina Faso and Nigeria. When the forestry service refused to help him capture the giraffes, Baré sent in the army. More than 20 giraffes were killed, out of a total population of fewer than 60. "We lost 30 percent of the herd," says Ciofolo, who was working in the field at that time. In 2002, President Mamadou Tandja, who was first elected in 1999 and remains in power, set out to give a pair of giraffes to Togo's president. This time the Togolese Army, helped by local villagers and the forestry service, spent three days chasing the giraffes and captured two. One died en route to Togo, and the other after arriving there. Hama Noma, a 27-year-old villager who witnessed the capture, says the giraffes were immobilized with ropes and transported in the back of a truck: "They suffered a lot before they died."

    Driving north past a pitted and rusty sign for the town of Niambere Bella, we come across a lone male strutting through the fields. "Number 208!" Suraud cries out. "This is only the second time I've seen him!" We find a group of 16 giraffes, an unusual sight during the dry season. Each one has been identified previously, which makes the research team rejoice. "It means we haven't missed any," says Suraud, clearly pleased. He pats Idé on the back, smiling. The mood is hopeful—at least 21 calves have been born recently, more than expected. And indeed the official results are heartening: 164 giraffes were photographed in 2007, leading the researchers to estimate that the population is around 175 individuals. While that number is dangerously small, it's up from 144 in 2006 and represents a 250 percent increase since 1996. Suraud says he is optimistic about the herd.

    Julian Fennessy, a founding member of the International Giraffe Working Group of the International Union for Conservation of Nature, projects that a minimum of 400 giraffes of a variety of ages is needed for a viable peralta population. Whether the mostly desert climate of this part of West Africa can support the growing number remains to be seen; some giraffe researchers have even suggested that the giraffes might be better off in a wildlife refuge. But Ciofolo points out that the nearest reserve in Niger has unsuitable vegetation—and lions. "In my opinion, giraffes are much better off living where they are now, where they are protected by the local people," she says.

    As the sky darkens, we drive past several villagers using handmade machetes called coup-coups to cut dried millet stalks. A father and son lead two bulls pulling a cart laden with straw bales along rough track in the bush. Now the royal blue sky is streaked with orange and violet from the setting sun, and the moon shimmers. Nearby, a group of foraging giraffes adds a calm majesty to the landscape these animals have so long inhabited.

    Jennifer Margulis lived in Niger for more than two years and now writes about travel and culture from Ashland, Oregon.


    1 2 3 4



    Additional Sources

    "West Africa's Last Giraffes: The Conflict between Development and Conservation" by I. Ciofolo, Journal of Tropical Ecology, 11:577-588, 1995

     
    Comments

    WHAT A WONDERFUL ARTICLE!

    Posted by PAT ARTMAN on October 23,2008 | 11:52AM

    I was a Peace Corps volunteer in Niger 2001-2003. I had the very fortunate experience of riding on a cow cart (how-torco for you Zarma-nites!) and finding one these majestic peltras. We ended up chasing him down a little, but to see that beautiful creature run was amazing. It is a memory that will forever remain engraved in my mind. I'm so pleased to see the people of Harikannasou, which I have met a few of them, helping to keep these wonderful beings in a wonderful sanctuary. Niger is a beautiful place and I miss it dearly. I hope to return someday and see these creatures again.

    Posted by Samantha Hall (aka Nafissa) on October 28,2008 | 10:10PM

    an excellent, interesting article here and in november issue of the Smithsonian magazine, by Jennifer Margulis.

    Posted by herbert tolpen on November 4,2008 | 08:22AM

    Always my favorite animal, I learned so much more from Ms. Margulis article than I had previously known. At the Providence, R.I. Roger William's Zoo, my grandson and I saw a video of a giraffe giving birth at this same Zoo. It was amazing to watch the mother nuzzling after the birth and the size of the new born, faltering on its long feet and finallly standing up by itself. Glenna Mazel

    Posted by glenna mazel on November 6,2008 | 09:00AM

    I loved your article. Giraffes have been my favorite animal since a little girl of 8 years seeing them up closed in the zoo for the first time. I remember their huge eyes and long lashes and their gentle and elegant walk. I am now 76 years old and they are still my favorite animal. My friends know of my love of giraffes and have given me many cards, trinkets and little statues with their image over the years. The article by Jennifer Margulis was execelent and very hopeful for the giraffes of Niger. It is the best article I've read on giraffes. Thank you so much. Bernie Donahue

    Posted by Bernie Donahue on November 6,2008 | 06:08PM

    I loved the article. It really gave me more facts about the animal I love. I am so pleased to learn that the people and the giraffes are learning to live together in Niger. I receive the magazine and loved the picture of the four giraffes standing lined up, like for a photo. I had hoped to use it for a powerpoint presentation I am putting together for a class I have. It is wonderful.

    Posted by P Holder on November 9,2008 | 11:20AM

    awsome pictures love the patterns of the giraffe, the baby was cute.

    Posted by Taylor on November 9,2008 | 02:48PM

    I, too, was a Peace Corps Volunteer in Niger (2000-02) and had the opportunity to see the giraffes twice quite by accident and again when I revisited this summer and sought them out. What a great article and amazing experience to see them up close! Thanks, Jennifer Margulis, for taking us to such an unknown part of the world. Niger will always be the most special place I've ever lived.

    Posted by Tracey McGee on November 10,2008 | 07:37AM

    MY SONS AND I WERE LOOKING AT THE PICTURES AND THEY WERE AMAZED AT HOW BIG THEY ARE. MY 4 YEAR OLD SON LOVES GIRAFFES, HE HAS A STUFFED ANIMAL GIRAFFE THAT HE SLEEPS WITH AND CARRIES WHERE EVER HE GOES, IT'S THE CUTED THING EVER.

    Posted by JULIA on November 10,2008 | 07:03PM

    I am so happy that Smithsonian did an article on this great animal of Africa. The giraffe is my favorite wild animal. The Woodland Park Zoo in Seattle has a wonderful exibit of the Savanna animals from Africa. I have gone several times to feed the giraffes. What an experience it is each and every time. I told friends about my experience and brought them to the zoo with their kids. The giraffes have given me happiness for some unknown reason, but it is delightful. As the villager said "Giraffes bring happiness here." I confirm the saying here on the North American continent too. I hope there is continued progress in Niger for the Giraffes and the other sub species that have habitat lose in different parts of Africa. If we can bring the North American Buffalo back from near extinction, it can be done with other species as well. Thank You Smithsonian for bringing this magnificant creature to the front.

    Posted by Keith Hass on November 15,2008 | 09:21PM

    Elephants get all the attention when it comes to African animals. They are beautiful and great creatures but giraffes are so much more interesting! All legs and neck, it is such an unusual form of life. Most curious! Thanks for the very informative article. Mary Ellen Fornsel P.S. I really enjoy your magazine!

    Posted by Mary Ellen Fornsel on November 17,2008 | 10:02AM

    The writer's eyes "LOOKING UP" penetrate beyond the predictable; with lightening suddenness she forces our attention on the lasting and the meaningful in Niger's stark landscape of the Sahel. Nabakov listed three criteria of literature. His fellow authors were admonished to inform, to enchant and to tell a story. And Jennifer has done so with a mature version of the empathy, grace and insight she has shown since before she began to speak and write full sentences. Here environmental problems of the peralta giraffe's bang-down birth of tall babies and the Nigeriens who follow their lives into the bush have become our own. My pride in her work and love for my daughter is unconditional.

    Posted by Lynn Margulis on December 27,2008 | 06:18PM

    This is a lovely article. I was also served as a Peace Corps Volunteer in Niger from 2003-05. During our time in training, our training group was taken to the giraffe area where they roamed free. This was during rainy season around August 2003. We were fortunate to come across 20 or more of them. We must have spoked them. One moment they were relaxed and foraging, the next they broke into a run. It was a classic National Geographic moment that I will never forget. It was just lovely to see animals free in their natural habitat like this. My biggest regret was not taking a photo. Jennifer, thank you so much for focusing on not only the giraffes but spotlighing the people of Niger as well. It is rare to hear anything postive about this poverty stricken country aside from famine. I loved my time living and working in Niger and look forward to returning for a visit in the future. The people are just as lovely and graceful as the giraffes.

    Posted by Vivian Nguyen on January 8,2009 | 08:02PM

    Excellent article and a big thank you. My son did a book report based on Africa and their endangered wild life and this article provided valuable information for him. Because of the in-depth information on Giraffes and how they are making a comeback, he scored an A on the report!

    -Stephen
    Personal Injury Lawyer NJ

    Posted by Stephen on April 8,2009 | 08:55AM

    Thank you for this inspiring article about these Giraffes. With all the things going on in today's world, it is incredible how nature seems to always revitalize itself in grand fashion.

    Scott Philadelphia Wedding Photographer

    Posted by Scott on April 15,2009 | 05:57PM

    For at least 20 years I have been enchanted by giraffes - my first expressed interest in them came during an adult education/sharing hour in my Congregational Church. We were asked what animal we most admired and would like to be our guardian. I immediately thought of and said the "Giraffe". When asked why by other persons in the group, I said because they are so majestic, can see above all other animals including people and seem to be so gentle.

    I.also, over the years have collected and been given many giraffe objects - miniatures, stuffed animals. a giraffe lamp which I use with my computer, a giraffe stool, etc. When my sister was about 16 she oil painted three giraffes in their natural habitat - this painting now sits on the mantle above the fireplace in my apartment and before apartment living it rested on a large wall in the living room of my house. I continue to be interested in giraffes and am concerned about the continuance and care of this wonderful species. My sister subscribes to the Smithsonian magazine and sent me the article entitled "Looking Up". I loved it and as a result got on your web site. Thanks so much for an informative and educational article.

    Posted by Sonya McCubrey on April 16,2009 | 06:26PM

    I have been to Niger on 5 missions trips working among the Songhai of Niger. We have been fortunate to walk among these endangered giraffes and get amazingly close to get some great pictures. They are so beautiful like the people there, they truly are an amazing example of God's blessing on such a dry land.

    Posted by Joel Candler on April 20,2009 | 02:52PM

    I never knew that these aniamls were endangered. i have never been to Niger, but it looks like a beatiful place to see and all the things that go on over there. those animals are so beautiful and peiceful. this article has informed me about things that go on in other countries. I'm glad that these animals are not endangered

    Posted by Max Mondelle on September 15,2009 | 07:40AM

    One of my best friends just recently came back from Safari in Africa and was talking about the amazing animals he saw. In particular he said the giraffe's were incredible and beautiful, so reading this article is kind of what he must have encountered too. I plan on going somewhere like Niger next year and can't wait to see the giraffe's. By far one of the most incredible animals.

    Briany
    - wood burning stoves

    Posted by Briany Drake on November 12,2009 | 05:34AM

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