A Kiss from a Giraffe

Growing up, I was privileged to live in a couple of National Parks in Uganda. This was so, because my dad was a Sr. member of staff at Uganda Wildlife Authority (UWA). This meant that for every work transfer, we moved along with him as a family.  We lived in some of the best National parks in Uganda like the Murchsion falls, Queen Elizabeth, Rwenzori National Park among others. We often went for game drives, Safaris and camping and learnt a lot about flora and fauna with training to preserve and conserve nature from a very young age.

I remember my dad telling my siblings and I endless stories about the park and how animals are beautiful ‘people’ and that if we didn’t interfere with the ecosystem, we could live in peace and harmony with all creatures.  We were never allowed to tamper with any creature by destroying its habitat or killing it for no reason. Over the years, I have learnt to respect other creatures and appreciate their role and value in the ecosystem. For me, nature has always been part of my life.

During  a recent  Thomson Reuters  media training on "Sustainable development in a changing environment" which took place in Nairobi,While discussing the Sustainable development Goals that are to replace the MDGS, I learnt that for anything to be sustainable, it ought to meet the needs of the present generation without compromising those of  the future generation to meet their own needs. I am afraid that in the wake of a changing Climate, characterized by deforestation, destruction of wetlands, human settlement in national parks and poaching, a lot of the future needs have been compromised.  And something has to be done.

As I plan to embark on an afforestation project in Uganda, I have decided to travel around Kenya visiting parks and reserves to appreciate the fauna. My first trips were to the David Shedirck Wildlife trust found within the Nairobi National Park, dedicated to saving baby elephants and taking them back to the wild once mature and the Giraffe Centre in Nairobi dedicated to Giraffes. In the video below, I was feeding a Giraffe as I learnt more about its life and value within the ecosystem. What you observe is the famous “Giraffe Kiss” received by lucky and courageous visitors to the centre.

I also did visit the Orphaned Elephants and learnt about their sad stories and how they ended up at the centre. It is mainly as a result of Ivory Poaching. A human activity endangering African elephants for their tusks.  Read more here 

A baby Elephant being fed at the David Shedrick Wildlife Trust in Nairobi, Kenya.

How can we move from being addicted to “breaking news” and focus more on sustainable development issues in a changing climate?  Maybe we could start by being kissed by a giraffe so that we can appreciate the value of our flora and fauna. Human beings need to stop being greedy. Just because animals cannot speak they get hurt and when they do, humanity is endangered. This piece was not about being kissed by a Giraffe but rather about the dangers of compromising the needs of the future generations through our selfish acts of destroying flora and fauna. You can do something to change this. What are you going to do today to stop further destruction of our environment? Plant a tree? Report deforestation to save birds? stop reclamation of land for wrong reasons? save those flowers to bring the bees back? what action will you take today? The ball is in your court!