San Diego Wild Animal Park, Part 1- Giraffes!

Yesterday I attended a fundraiser event for my company's charitable foundation for animals and animal causes. Our foundation has helped adopt out over 2.5 million animals, and has provided over $45 million in grants to various shelters, animal rescue groups and organizations that help animals in need. This annual event assembles our vendors to participate in activities to donate money to the foundation. The events included a Golf Scramble, a visit to the San Diego Wild Animal Park, and a Culinary Experience (cooking competition). Before dinner there was a silent auction, followed by a live auction where vendors bid big bucks on prize packages that included time with company officers (including me). They were bidding for things like a day sailing trip, day of golf, or to attend a San Diego Padre's baseball game in our company's suite (at the stadium named after our company). We raised a bunch of money and it was a fun evening. Earlier in the day I went to the Wild Animal Park where I went on a Safari Adventure in a caravan through the park. I took tons of photos, so I'm going to split them up over a few days. One of the highlights was seeing the giraffes. They walked right up to the caravan and we fed them leaves. Our guide told us that giraffes have 14 inch tongues, which we had ample opportunity to see while feeding them. They are really such sweet animals, I very much enjoyed the time we spent with them. In these photos (above and below) you can see the caravans we were in, and how the giraffes roamed around so freely.

A Few Facts on Giraffes

It turns out that giraffes are the tallest animals on land. Their necks are six foot long and weighs an amazing 600 pounds. Their legs are also six feet long. Despite the optical illusion, their four legs are about the same length. Here are some other tidbits I found amazing: a giraffe's heart is two feet long and weighs about twenty-five pounds. Their lungs can hold twelve gallons of air. They can eat up to seventy-five pounds of food per day! Apparently giraffes eat all day long because they only get a few leaves in each bite.

Here I am Feeding the Giraffes!

above: The giraffe approaches me when she sees I have a handful of delicious leaves for her.

above: Soon she was munching on the leaves, and another giraffe cozied up for a snack too.

above: Here is a mama and baby giraffe, relaxing on a nice sunny day. They were so cool. It was a real treat to be so close to these magnificent creatures.

Thanks for stopping by today, please come back again tomorrow for more exciting animals!

-Rick Rockhill