A feeling of delicate ecstasy filled Uganda’s smallest area of a savanna National Park, as the first glances of the little gorgeous giraffe baby, born this morning, were made.
Born to one of the female Rothschild giraffes that were translocated from Murchison Falls National Park in 2015 to Lake Mburo National Park in western Uganda, the giraffe calf becomes the 16th individual of this species to roam one of the country’s endeared but also closest national park to the capital Kampala.
The first activity of this baby giraffe was captured using a smartphone camera and shared through WhatsApp with the tourism fraternity in Kampala by the park’s conservation area manager. Though blurry an image, we all couldn’t hold back our excitement for the mother and her young but most importantly for giraffe conservation at large.
According to Tom Okello, an official working with Uganda Wildlife Authority(UWA), a semi-autonomous government agency mandated to conserve and manage Uganda’s wildlife for the people of Uganda and the whole world; the new birth is viewed as a summary of the success story of UWA’s conservation efforts. “When this translocation discussion began a few years ago, many voices against this operation arose and several questions were asked about whether it was wise to introduce them to this acacia dominated ecosystem!” Okello added.
Amidst all rival opinions, in June 2015 four (4) males and eleven (11) females left Murchison Falls National Park and began the road journey to their new home in Lake Mburo National Park. The initiative was not only aimed at adding to the variety of wildlife species that a tourist now gets to see while on a safari to Lake Mburo, but also at using these tall-standing-foragers to feed on a weed, acacia hockii, which had outgrown the park in the recent years.
The birth comes merely days after the inauguration of the new Executive Director of Uganda Wildlife Authority, Sam Mwandha who took up the highest conservation role in the country from the enthusiastic Dr. Andrew Seguya whose tenure livened this particular translocation. During his time in office, he also engineered the movement of over 20 giraffes from the Northern banks to boost tourism in the southern sector of Uganda’s largest national park in 2017; as well as the 150 kobs that were moved from Murchison Falls to the country’s most remote but picturesque Kidepo Valley National Park in the same year. We are reliably informed that there are plans to send giraffes to Uganda’s most popular park, Queen Elizabeth National Park.
The question of whether the baby will be named after Seguya or Mwandha or the veterinary team that did the dirty work of effecting the translocation remains unanswered. We can’t wait to hear what name the giraffe calf will get.
Uganda is home to the biggest population of Rothschild giraffe in the world. According to Africa Geographic, the Rothschild giraffe is one of the most endangered giraffe sub-species, with only a few hundred left in the wild; making it endemic to only Kenya and parts of Uganda. Fewer than 700 are believed to survive in the wild and around 450 are kept in zoos, and therefore any addition must be welcomed with warm spirits.
Rothschild’s giraffe (Giraffa camelopardalis rothschildi) is one of the most endangered giraffe subspecies, with only a few hundred members in the wild. It is named after the Tring Museum’s founder, Walter Rothschild, and is also known as the Baringo giraffe, after the Lake Baringo area of Kenya, or as the Ugandan giraffe. All of those living in the wild are in protected areas in Kenya and Uganda.
One major distinguishing feature of Rothschild’s giraffe, although harder to spot, is the number of ossicones on the head. This is the only subspecies to be born with five ossicones. Two of these are the larger and more obvious ones at the top of the head, which are common to all giraffes. The third ossicone can often be seen in the center of the giraffe’s forehead, and the other two are behind each ear. They are also taller than many other subspecies, measuring up to six metres tall (20 ft). – Excerpt from the UWA website
Other animals in Lake Mburo National Park include topi, eland, buffalo, impala, hippo, baboon, monkeys, reptiles, waterbuck, bushbuck, leopard, hyena, and more than 300 bird species! Feel free to look through our website for more interesting news and stories about Uganda or visit the Uganda Wildlife Authority’s website for more details about this compacted gem.
