Become a Giraffe Guardian
Adopt all the orphaned giraffes that arrive at Reteti's doorstep – for yourself or fellow giraffe lovers in your life.
For as little as $5 a month, you can support Lentile’s journey – and pave the way for the next generation of reticulated giraffes in Northern Kenya 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: 8 months
Rescue Location: Nanapisho Conservancy, Laikipia County
LENTILE’S RESCUE STORY
Lentile arrived at Reteti at just two weeks old, found alone in Nanapisho Conservancy in Laikipia. In the wild, giraffes leave their young in small nursery groups with other calves while they go looking for food. In our drier seasons, they naturally have to travel further to find nourishment. The wait can sometimes lead to separation, as curious calves, like Lentile, wander off. Thankfully, when community members spot a lone baby giraffe they waste no time to let Reteti know, and many of the babies that have landed in our care were rescued in time thanks to Samburu women who looked out for them.
Lentile Today
Lentile has settled in beautifully, and at three and a half months old he is already thriving — spending his days browsing happily on the green leaves around the sanctuary.
What makes Lentile particularly special is his sociable, open-hearted nature. While most young giraffes tend to stick close to their own kind, Lentile has formed easy friendships with the greater kudus and common zebras that share his world – something his keepers see less so in other rescued giraffes here. He moves between species with a quiet confidence that speaks to his gentle character.
He does have one exception to his independent streak: come milk bottle time, Lentile is right there with the other giraffes, shoulder to shoulder. Some things, it turns out, bring everyone together.
Becoming a Giraffe Guardian will contribute to…
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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
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.
The reticulated giraffe can be confused with the Masai giraffe, Kenya's other species – but the difference is easy to spot. Masai giraffes are smaller than their northern counterparts and have irregular, jagged-edged markings on a paler background. Reticulated giraffes, by contrast, have larger, more geometric patches with sharply defined white borders. Their habitats differ too. Masai giraffes roam the savannas and acacia woodlands of central and southern Kenya, while the reticulated giraffe is a creature of the dry northern scrublands, found almost exclusively in Kenya, Somalia and Ethiopia.
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. When Sarara Camp was established 30 years ago, there were just four giraffes in Namunyak. Today, there are over 600.
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 elephant
Regular email and video updates about your elephant (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.
Your donation will support the rehabilitation and care of Babala on his journey back to the wild.