Let’s be honest—when most of us picture giraffes, we imagine them wandering across vast, dry savannahs, nibbling acacia leaves high above the reach of any other animal. We don’t usually picture them stranded on a shrinking island, with floodwaters rising around their impossibly long legs. But that’s exactly what happened to Asiwa and her giraffe friends in western Kenya. And what happened next is one of those stories that’s equal parts heart-pounding rescue mission and proof that humans really can come together for something good.
So, here’s how it all started: For years, eight Rothschild’s giraffes had been living on a peninsula that jutted out into Lake Baringo. Life was good. Plenty to eat, plenty of space. But then the rain came and didn’t stop. Eventually, what used to be a stretch of land turned into a tiny island. You know that feeling when you step outside after a storm and your favorite shortcut is just…gone? Multiply that by a thousand and you’re close to what these giraffes were dealing with.
Asiwa, in particular, drew the short straw. She ended up separated from the others, stuck on a marshy patch that was barely the size of a football field. There wasn’t much to eat, and the water kept rising. Something had to be done, and fast.
That’s when the rescue team jumped into action conservationists, Kenyan wildlife officials, even folks from the local community. Their plan? Move the giraffes off the flooded island and into the huge, safe haven of Ruko Conservancy, a 44,000-acre sanctuary designed just for animals like these.
Sounds simple, right? Just coax a giraffe onto a boat and sail off into the sunset. Well, not quite. As anyone who’s ever tried to get a cat into a carrier knows, animals have a knack for doing the opposite of what you want multiply that by 18 feet and 2,600 pounds and you get the picture.
David O’Connor, the president of Save Giraffes Now, summed it up pretty well: “They don’t know you’re trying to help them. They think you’re a predator.” And treats? Turns out, giraffes aren’t easily bribed especially when there’s already plenty to munch on thanks to the rainy season.
That meant using tranquilizer darts a risky move. Giraffes have tricky anatomy. If they go down the wrong way, they can choke or even suffer brain damage because of blood pressure changes. So the rescue team had to act fast the moment Asiwa went down in the thick acacia brush. Vets rushed in, reversing the sedative. They gently blindfolded her and even put socks in her ears to muffle the noise. It’s a scene that would stress out anyone, but Asiwa? She handled it like a champ.
Once she was steady, the team carefully walked her yes, walked, like a very, very tall puppy onto a custom steel barge. It took about an hour to cross to the mainland, with Asiwa’s head peeking curiously over the walls, still blindfolded and blissfully unaware of the fuss she’d caused.
Photographer AmiVitale was there to capture the whole thing. She described the moment Asiwa finally stepped off the barge, calm and collected, as if it was just another stroll in the park. “It really was a scene that could have been biblical,” Vitale said, and honestly, who could argue?
But what makes this story even better is what happened next. The Ruko Conservancy, where the giraffes were taken, is itself a symbol of hope. It was created by two communities that used to be at odds with each other. Now, they’re working together to
protect these endangered animals. The plan all along was to make the giraffes a symbol of unity and maybe, just maybe, a sign that things can change for the better.
Asiwa wasn’t the only one rescued. Another giraffe, Pasaka, made it out safely the very next day. There are still six left on that shrinking island, but the rescue teams are determined to bring them all to safety by the end of January.
It matters more than you might think. Rothschild’s giraffes are in real trouble only about 2,000 left in all of Africa, and fewer than 1,000 in Kenya. Habitat loss, poaching, climate change it’s the usual list, but every rescue like this is a small victory.
As Ami Vitale puts it, these stories remind us just how connected we are to the animals we share this planet with. “We have poked some big holes in our shared little life raft,” she says, and she’s right. Saving the giraffes isn’t just about giraffes. It’s about proving we can patch those holes if we try one barge ride at a time.
