Become a Giraffe Guardian
Adopt all the giraffe orphans arriving on Reteti's
doorstep – for yourself or someone who loves
giraffes as much as you do.
For as little as $5 a month, you can support Lentile’s journey – and help Northern Kenya's next generation of reticulated giraffes to thrive.
Your donation gets you exclusive access to the giraffes’ private album and stories, frequent photo, video, text, and email updates from their keepers, and will also get you automatic membership to The Herd – our global community of monthly supporters!
What is a Giraffe Guardian?
Giraffes are often ready to be rewilded within a year – but once they roam freely again, it’s tricky to keep tabs on their adventures! That’s why we’ve created an adoption program that grows with them.
As a Giraffe Guardian, you’ll get to meet and join a new baby giraffe’s journey every World Giraffe Day, and through your support year after year, you’ll become part of their stories – from the earliest days in our care to their first steps back into the wilderness.
THIS YEAR’S STAR GIRAFFE
Meet Lentile
Gender: Male
Age When Rescued: Two weeks old
Date Rescued: 2 March 2026
Rescue Location: Nanapisho Community Conservancy, Isiolo County
Reason Orphaned: Found alone by local herders
LENTILE’S RESCUE STORY
When local herders came upon a tiny giraffe in the open grazing lands of Lentile within Nanapisho Conservancy, the little calf was only two weeks old – wandering around all on his own. Realising that he must have been separated from his mother, they alerted nearby rangers, who in turn called on Reteti's rescue team to come to his aid.
In Northern Kenya, herders and wildlife often share the same grazing fields, and it's believed that the calf and his mother may have become caught up in some livestock movement, causing them to become separated and unable to find their way back to each other in all the confusion.
By the time Reteti's team arrived at the scene, Lentile – who was named after the area in which he was found – was exhausted and frightened. Concerned community members and rangers had all done their best to help him, but the stress of his ordeal had already taken its toll. Once safely at Reteti, settling him down was far from straightforward, and he also developed diarrhoea in those first difficult days. However, our veterinary team worked around the clock to stabilise and soothe him, helping him on the road to recovery.
It was such a relief to see Lentile come through, and steadily and quietly, something remarkable started to unfold…
LENTILE TODAY
Lentile has settled in beautifully, and at three and a half months old he is thriving – spending his days happily browsing on the juicy green leaves around the sanctuary.
There’s a warmth and an easygoing attitude about this baby that immediately caught our eye, and Lentile never misses a chance to befriend other animals. What makes him even more interesting, and curiously courageous, is how he doesn't fit the typical mould of giraffe behaviour – which usually means sticking to one’s own kind. Instead, he bonds with all sorts of creatures, and has dear friends from greater kudus to zebras. Moving with the greatest of ease between species, he carries himself with a quiet confidence that is utterly endearing.
And while we commend his independence, there’s an exception: milk bottle time. Lentile doesn’t waste a moment to join the other giraffe orphans right at the front – readily accepting every last nourishing drop. It seems some things bring everyone together, and at Reteti, milk is the universal language!
Becoming a Giraffe Guardian will contribute to…
-
Feeding Reteti’s orphaned wildlife
with nourishing milk from the Milk to Market Program -
The Keepers
and their 24/7 expert care and endless love for the orphans -
Veterinary care
ensuring the orphans are healthy and strong from rescue to release -
The giraffes’ release
and their journey back to the wild in Northern Kenya
Reteti’s Giraffes
RECENTLY REWILDED
Zawadi
Zawadi is spending more and more of her days in the wild, but she hasn’t forgotten where she came from and still returns to Reteti on her own most evenings.
Ever the leader, she’s often seen gathering her rehabilitated companions and guiding them back for the 6pm feed with the same quiet authority she’s always had. It’s the sweetest thing to witness, and keeps astonishing everyone who sees it – because it’s the furthest thing from average giraffe behaviour.
To all of Zawadi's loyal guardians, thank you for making her remarkable journey possible!
The Reticulated Giraffe of Northern Kenya
Namunyak Community Conservancy is home to one of Kenya's largest populations of reticulated giraffes.
Recognisable by their bold, clearly defined coat pattern – deep chestnut patches separated by crisp white lines, like a map of ancient riverbeds – reticulated giraffes are found almost exclusively in Northern Kenya. They are a species tied to this landscape in a way that makes their survival inseparable from the health of the land itself.
It's possible to confuse the reticulated giraffe with its southern cousin – the Masai giraffe – but once you know what to look for, the differences are easy to spot.
Masai giraffes are smaller and have irregular, jagged-edged markings on a paler background, while reticulated giraffes have a striking coat pattern made up of large geometric patches outlined by crisp white borders – almost as if they were drawn by hand.
The two also have very different habitats. Masai giraffes roam the savannas and acacia woodlands of central and southern Kenya, while reticulated giraffes are at home in the dry, thorny bushlands of the north and are found almost exclusively in Kenya, Somalia, and Ethiopia.
30 years ago, there were just four giraffes in Namunyak. Today, there are over 600.
The Sarara Foundation and Reteti work alongside Samburu communities to protect them through rangeland restoration, community-led rescues, and care for orphaned giraffes. Together, we are helping populations recover – and their recovery here is one of conservation's quiet success stories.
Your donation will support the rehabilitation and care of reticulated giraffes in Northern Kenya.
What is included in your adoption?
A digital, sharable Adoption Certificate – making your foster parent-hood official! (Emailed to you or your gift recipient after purchase)
A regularly updated, exclusive online album with photos, behind-the-scenes stories, and videos of your giraffe
Regular email and video updates about your giraffe (SMS updates too, for those in the US!)
Automatic membership to The Herd – our monthly donor club that gets you invites to our livestreams, updates from the Reteti team, and more!
PLEASE NOTE
We are a US-based 501(c)(3) and therefore your monthly donation is 100% tax deductible for customers in the US. Additionally, multiple adoptions of individual orphans enable us to cover the costs of caring for all the orphans at Reteti. Your contribution will help us cover the cost of milk, keepers, veterinary cost, and other essentials your orphan needs.