Kenya: Birth of twin Maasai giraffes in Nairobi National Park

A masai giraffe.

Sunset at the Selenkay Conservancy, in Amboseli, on June 21, 2022. AFP - YASUYOSHI CHIBA

Text by: Igor Gauquelin Follow

3 mins

It is a rare event.

A Maasai giraffe in Nairobi National Park, Kenya, gave birth to twins.

The tourism and wildlife minister says the country welcomes them " 

 ".

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Two Maasai giraffes, twins, with their small spotted bodies, were born south of the capital of Kenya after fifteen months of gestation, we learned on Tuesday July 19 via the social network Twitter.

It was the minister in charge of wildlife who announced the event.

He speaks of an “

 ”.

“ 

 ,” adds Najib Balala.

One of the Maasai giraffes in Nairobi National Park has given birth to a set of twins.

This is an extremely rare occurrence.

We welcome the new borns with love.

#ZuruNairobiPark #MagicalKenya 🇰🇪 pic.twitter.com/QR8dAAOOGk

— Hon.

Najib Balala (@tunajibu) July 19, 2022

This 117 km2 park is the oldest in East Africa.

The design of the reserve dates from the British colonial era, the 1940s. It has resisted the partly uncontrolled growth of the capital.

It is therefore in a tourist spot, which is also home to lions or rhinos, and located just seven kilometers from downtown Nairobi, that the birth of the two baby giraffes took place.

Few cases of twins

Giraffes are among the mammals with the longest gestation period.

Fifteen months, as far as they're concerned.

Only a few cases of twins have been documented, most often dead.

These giants give birth standing up: their little one, larger on average than an adult human being, falls a little less than two meters, then finds itself on its four legs, in principle, within the hour.

A Maasai giraffe being tasted at the Selenkay Conservancy in Amboseli on June 22, 2022. AFP - YASUYOSHI CHIBA

According to the accepted classification, Kenya is home to three kinds of giraffes, namely the Maasai,

, the reticulates and the Rothschilds.

They live up to 25 years (35 years in captivity).

But these magnificent herbivorous ruminants have been in the category of

on the

established by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (

) since

.

A Maasai giraffe drinks water at the Selenkay Conservancy in Amboseli, Kenya, on June 21, 2022. AFP - YASUYOSHI CHIBA

Maasai giraffes in danger 

The world network for the conservation of nature explains that human demography, illegal hunting or the expansion of agriculture and mining operations threaten giraffes.

These factors are “ 

 ,” the organization adds.

There are still some 117,000 of these animals living in the wild in the world, according to a foundation dedicated to their conservation.

#PhotoduJour A hunting lioness crosses paths with three curious giraffes in Masai Mara, Kenya.

Masai giraffes are the largest species of giraffes, and are therefore the tallest land animals.

pic.twitter.com/wujEzQLcPs

— National Geographic (@NatGeoFR) August 9, 2019

The latter, the Giraffe Conservation Foundation or GCF, a non-profit organization, estimates that the number of these mammals has dropped massively in the last 30 years in Africa.

Of the nine subspecies, the Maasai, but also the reticulated giraffes,

endangered.

But the Nubian and Kordofan giraffes are critically endangered.

With agencies

►Also listen: Drought in Kenya, wildlife in danger (Reportage Afrique)

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