This week, a giraffe was res.cued when a vehicle tyre became stuck around its neck in Haller Park in Mombasa, Kenya.
It’s unclear how the animal got into this condition, but the outer half of a wheel had been wrapped around her neck long enough to produce a laceration.
‘We are not aware of any earlier occurrences of giraffes being treated for injuries caused by tyres, but our SWT/KWS teams have treated 95 giraffes for snare inj.ur.ies,’ said Rob Brandford, Executive Director of the Sheldrick Wildlife Trust. However, we suspect that this tyre was abandoned as trash and was not utilized as a tr.ap. ‘Giraffes are one of the most difficult species to anaesthetize, and it takes a full team working fast and nimbly, overcoming multiple obstacles before the treatment even begins.’ The giraffe was approached on foot and darted with an anesthesia specially formulated for a creature her size.
‘Teams from the Sheldrick Trust and Kenya Wildlife Service then carefully guided her down to the ground so she did not d.am.age herself, notably her beautifully long neck, since trauma or malposition might be deadly,’ Rob added. Once on the ground, the anaesthesia was reversed and she was manually restrained by team members.
‘This is because giraffes cannot be anaesthetized for lengthy periods of time because, among other things, anaesthesia impairs a giraffe’s capacity to circulate blo.od around its large body.
So, the anesthesia is reversed and the giraffe is manually restrained the moment it is securely down on the ground.’ The crew then removed the tyre and properly cleansed, disinfected, and covered the area with antibiotic spray and green clay, a natural ingredient that assists in healing.
She was also given long-acting antibiotics and anti-inflammatories before being allowed to walk.
‘Because the giraffe had an optimistic prognosis for a full recovery, it was not required to monitor her or administer any follow-up therapy,’ he explained.
‘We can tell with sure that she must be relieved that the bothersome tyre, which was causing her ag.on.y and great discomfort, has been removed.’ Poachers k.i.ll.ed the country’s lone female white giraffe and her baby earlier this week, a huge setback for the unique species found nowhere else in the world.
The carcasses of the two giraffes were discovered ‘in a skeleton state after being slaughtered by armed poachers’ near Garissa, eastern Kenya, according to the Ishaqbini Hirola Community Conservancy.
According to the conservancy, their deaths have left only one white giraffe living – a lone male delivered by the same k.il.led female.
‘This is a really sad day for the people of Ijara and Kenya in general,’ said Mohammed Ahmednoor, the conservancy’s manager. We are the only community in the world that looks after the white giraffe. ‘Its sla.ying is a blow to the community’s incredible efforts to save rare and unusual animals, as well as a wake-up call for continuous support to conservation efforts.’
Ahmednoor went on to say that the fatalities were a setback for the tourist and research businesses in a remote part of Kenya.
‘This is a long-term loss since genetics studies and research, which were important investments in the field by researchers, have now gone down the toilet,’ he stated. Furthermore, the white giraffe boosted tourism in the area.’
The white giraffe sparked much interest when she was first discovered on the reserve in 2017, and again when she gave birth to two kids, the most recent in August last year.
Their alabaster color is caused by a disorder called leucism, not alb.ini.sm. Because of the disease, individuals continue to create dark pigment in their soft tissue, resulting in dark eyes.
