Cute and cuddly

Many people do not think of elephants, rhinos and giraffes as cute and cuddly. Most people that know me are aware that I don't usually get too excited about things being cute and cuddly. In fact, I usually cheer for predator when they are chasing a baby gazelle. However, twice in the past few weeks I have been to the Elephant Orphanage in Nairobi, and there are some really cute animals their with some really sad stories. I have also visited the Giraffe Center was slipped the tongue by a 15 foot tall female giraffe.

At the Elephant Orphanage, they have about 10 young elephants, most them orphaned because their mothers were killed by poachers. They also a few rhinos, including one that was only a few days old on my first visit.

In the first picture, my friend Jesse Matter feeds one of the lovely ladies at the Giraffe Center. Jesse and his wife Cheryl, who recently completed her Ph.D. at UCLA, were visiting Kenya for two weeks. Unfortunately, the picture of Jesse kissing the giraffe were only on Cheryl's camera and not on mine. In the second picture is the baby rhino, with unknown kids used for scale. In the third picture, visiting Fish and Wildlife Ph.D. student Emily Johnston is pictured with the baby elephants parading by. The final picture is me with my "adopted" 3 year old blind rhino, named Maxwell. If you are ever in Nairobi make sure to visit the Elephant Orphanage and the Giraffe Center!



Jesse and giraffe



Baby rhino of infinite cuteness



Emily and the elephant parade



Andy and his adopted rhino