![]() Open daily from 9:00 A.M.–5:00 P.M., with an extra hour until 6:00 P.M. It’s a fun way to see animals in a natural habitat, and you’ll love seeing how excited your children get when a zebra sticks his head in your car window. We’ve fallen in love with Buddy, but to be honest, we love all of the animals at the ranch, and you will too. He is a ham, loves people, and will do his best to stretch his neck to reach you over the fence when you talk to him. Buddy’s mom didn’t have enough milk to feed two babies, so the staff took Buddy under its wing, nursing him and watching him grow. ![]() Buddy hanging out during a recent educational event at the ranch.Īnd at the heart of all of the effort is Buddy, the male twin you can see hanging out near the Longneck Learning Center, the facility that the ranch uses for educational programming. Natural Bridge Wildlife Ranch is working to educate the public about giraffes while also working to support giraffe research in Africa. ![]() At that pace, in the next decade, there won’t be any giraffes in nature left for our children to enjoy. How is that possible? Half of the world’s giraffes have been lost in the last 15 years, and more than 400,000 giraffes have perished in the last 40 years due to the loss of their habitat, tribal violence across Africa, and other issues. There are 500,000 elephants in Africa, but only 80,000 giraffes. Buddy the giraffe hanging out with an even taller friend. You hear about elephants, rhinos, and so many other animals being endangered, but you probably haven’t heard about the challenges facing the world’s giraffe population. As they shared news of the birth and worked to raise the twins, the plight of the giraffe population hit home. Their birthday was May 10th, making it the perfect day to now be celebrated as Texas Giraffe Day. The pair was only the ninth known set of living giraffe twins born in captivity. In 2013, one of their giraffes gave birth to twins, something they had no idea was so unusual. ![]() If you have an animal lover in your midst, it’s a must-see destination, and I’ve got the scoop you need to make it a great safari for your little animal fans.įirst, let’s talk giraffes because they’re one of the animals you’ll see at the ranch and, well, they’re really cool! Today is the first ever Texas Giraffe Day, and it came to be thanks to the folks at Natural Bridge Wildlife Ranch. Hours change depending on time of year, so be sure to check the website before you go.The ranch, covering more than 450 acres, is home to more than 500 animals representing more than 45 species of native, exotic and endangered wildlife from Africa, Asia, Australia, Europe, South America, and North America, including giraffes. Don’t forget to check out the petting barnyard and the great burgers and queso at the Safari Camp Grill. In 2017, its staff went on a multi-national research expedition to South Africa to learn more about giraffe breeding in the wild, and are working to produce more outreach programs here in the U.S. It takes about 1.5 hours to drive through the conservation-minded ranch (you can drive-through again for free too), and about half of the species here are endangered, including a herd of scimitar-horned oryx, the gibbons and reticulated giraffes. ![]() Life at Natural Bridge is a moving picture, says wildlife specialist Tiffany Soechting, with 500 animals and 40 species roaming freely throughout the 450-acre ranch. A post shared by Natural Bridge Wildlife Ranch Natural Bridge Wildlife RanchĢ6515 Natural Bridge Caverns Rd, San Antonio | 9 a.m. ![]()
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |