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Tuesday, November 7, 2023

DREAMING IN GREEN (G is for Giraffe)

 




What are these walls and floors
where nothing grows?
What are these fences wrapped around us
keeping us from each other,
one on one,
when my Mama wants
to teach me how to run?

My Mama tells me stories of the savannah:
grasslands, where all my cousins run and play,
tall trees to nibble on,
an open sky...
Why are we not there, too?
I wonder why.

I love my Mama, and I love the sky,
but I need trees and grasses,
freedom I have never 
felt or seen,
no fences, lots of grass,
and so, when I dream,
in my wooden stall
at night,
my dreams are green.



The International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN), the gold standard for assessing endangerment, has found that giraffes are “vulnerable,” meaning they face a “high risk” of extinction in the wild. And for some of the nine subspecies, this risk is imminent. As of 2020, there were at least 579 captive giraffe at 103 zoos throughout North America and more than 800 in European zoos. Their lives are lengthened slightly by incarceration, but I am pretty sure they would prefer to run free on the savannah.

for Rajani's climate crisis series.   All the wild ones are feeling the impact of accelerating climate change.

2 comments:

  1. That is so very touching, Sherry. Our zoo here has 5 or 6 giraffes in a decent environment where they have room to meander, but still I agree that they would prefer the wild!

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  2. Thanks Sherry. I don't like the idea of zoos except where it is necessary for conservation work. Animals should be free in their habitat... with their green dreams -absolutely agree!

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