THE GREAT GIRAFFE RESCUE

Imagine moving a herd of giraffes!

This feel-good environmental story describes how members of a threatened giraffe species were safely transported across the Victoria Nile River to start a new herd in another part of Murchison Falls National Park in Uganda. Operation Twiga began in 2016, when it looked like oil drilling was imminent in the giraffes’ grazing area. The Ugandan Wildlife Authority partnered with the Giraffe Conservation Foundation to find out the animals’ current range and new locations where they might also thrive. The story of this project fits well into Markle’s series of reports about animal rescues (The Great Bear Rescue, 2020) and is efficiently and engagingly told. She offers basic facts about Nubian giraffes, discusses the equipment and procedures used for keeping tabs on the animals, explains how experts decided which animals to move and to where, and recounts the actual move in considerable detail. Because one animal has an unusual jawline and a name, Melman, readers can track him through the story and even identify him in the photographs from a variety of sources that immerse youngsters within the scenes and show the diverse human team. Many of these images cross the fold comfortably, and the thoughtful design helps readers follow the text. There’s a happy ending: This and subsequent translocations have been successful enough that the giraffes have produced calves.

A welcome example of human efforts to salvage what’s left of the natural world.