A Happy Event.
Twin baby giraffes have been born in a park south of the capital Nairobi after 15 months of gestation.
"It's an extremely rare phenomenon," commented Wildlife Minister Najib Balala on Twitter, a photo showing the majestic Maasai giraffe watching over its two long-spotted-necked offspring in Nairobi National Park.
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
Giraffes are in the category of "vulnerable" animals according to the global red list of threatened species established in 2016 by the International Union for the Conservation of Nature which lists among other things "the growth of the human population", illegal hunting or yet the expansion of agriculture and mining as factors "pushing the species towards extinction".
117,000 giraffes living in the wild in the world
There are only about 117,000 giraffes left living in the wild in the world, according to the Giraffe Conservation Foundation.
According to this NGO, the number of these giants in Africa has fallen by 30% over the past 30 years.
Kenya is home to three subspecies of these giants: the Maasai, Reticulated, and Rothschild's giraffes.
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Giraffes have, at 15 months, one of the longest gestation periods for mammals.
They give birth upright, which means that their young, larger than an average adult male, fall just under two meters from the ground.
This startling introduction to life sets them up in less than an hour.
Only a handful of baby twin births have been documented worldwide, most often without survival.
In the wild, giraffes can live up to 25 years, while in captivity their longevity can stretch up to 35 years.
