(NewsNation Now) — Eight giraffes stranded on an island in Kenya have been rescued by wildlife officials.
The giraffes were originally moved to the remote Kenyan Rift Valley in 2011 in an effort to save the animals from poachers and to increase the subspecies’ population. They ended up stranded after heavy rains turned their peninsula into an island.
Asiwa was the first giraffe to cross the water; one by one the giraffes were rescued and taken on a custom made steel barge. They will head to a new home in a wildlife sanctuary.
“There is great urgency to execute this rescue,” said David O’Connor, president of Save Giraffes Now. “We couldn’t have asked for a better result.”