Time.news – An aerial photograph of six dead giraffes, piled on top of each other on the arid red earth outside the village of Eyrib, Kenya, has become the symbol of the devastation caused by drought in the East African country. The shock photo relaunched in the media, which is going viral, was taken by photojournalist Ed Ram. Getty Images reported that the animals, already weak, died after being stuck in the mud, just as they were trying to reach a nearby reservoir, which had almost dried up.
The African artiodactyl mammal is the tallest living land animal and the largest extant ruminant. All the suffering, even lethal, caused by the lack of water, a primary asset, is contained in this very strong shot that portrays the emaciated and tangled bodies of the six giraffes killed by the prolonged drought in the Sabuli wildlife reserve.
To avoid contamination of the local water reservoir, their carcasses were moved to the gates of the drama village of Eyrib in Wajir County in the northeastern province of Kenya. According to the local newspaper Star News, 4,000 giraffes could be killed by droughtbut it’s not just animals that are at risk.
Six dead giraffes: Kenya drought horror captured in single picture https://t.co/yjV34IUYFc
— Guardian Environment (@guardianeco) December 14, 2021
Ibrahim Ali, of the Bour-Algi giraffe sanctuary, said the situation worsened due to agriculture along the rivers, which blocked wildlife access to watering points. Kenya’s Drought Management Authority estimates that around 2.1 million people are starving from severe drought in half the country. At the same time, some areas of Kenya are experiencing the strongest rainfall in recent decades. For the UN, at the moment there are still 2.9 million Kenyans in need of urgent humanitarian assistance.
“Sources of water for both people and livestock have dried up, forcing families to travel long distances and causing tensions between communities, which has led to an increase in intercommunal conflicts,” the Bureau of United Nations for the coordination of humanitarian affairs.
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