By Jeanni Ritchie
It wasn’t my first giraffe birthday party.
Giraffes have long been my favorite animal, so celebrating the 33rd birthday of Kameel, the beloved giraffe matriarch at Global Wildlife Center in Folsom, was a fitting start to a weekend girls trip with my mom.
But it wasn’t the only birthday being celebrated.
Global Wildlife Center turned 35 this year, and the wildlife preserve stretched the party throughout June with a month-long celebration honoring its anniversary, Kameel, two new baby giraffes, and World Giraffe Day. The festivities included a giraffe-themed birthday party with a nod to the 1990s, the decade Global Wildlife first opened.
Kameel has been there almost from the beginning. Born in 1993, she was the first giraffe born at Global Wildlife Center and has since become the matriarch of four generations of giraffes at the preserve. At 33, she is also the second-oldest giraffe in North America.
Mom and I got an especially close look at the animals aboard a private Pinz tour. The open-air Pinzgauer 4×4 can travel into areas of the 900-acre preserve that the larger safari wagons cannot, allowing smaller groups more one-on-one interaction with the animals.
And interaction is definitely the right word.
Armed with a giant sack of animal feed and two smaller buckets, we met deer, bison, llamas, and more as they approached our vehicle for a snack. I even got licked by a Watusi cow while feeding him.
Legend has it that being licked by a Watusi cow brings seven years of good luck.
The scratchy, sandpaper tongue lick felt a little gross, but I was banking on the fortune.
Then it was time to see the birthday girl.
Kameel’s celebration included a giraffe-sized birthday cake featuring some of her favorite foods, including apples, romaine, twigs, and hay. I missed it at first, looking instead for a multi-layer concoction of flour, sugar, and frosting.
I whispered to my mom that I felt dumb expecting a birthday cake from a nearby bakery. She whispered back, “Me too.”
Great minds think alike. Even when they are hopelessly naive.
The birthday festivities were only part of the experience. Global Wildlife Center is one of the country’s largest free-roaming wildlife preserves of its kind, with more than 2,000 exotic, endangered, and threatened animals from around the world living on its 900 acres.
Visitors have several ways to explore. The traditional guided safari takes guests on a covered wagon for approximately one hour and 15 minutes through the Louisiana countryside, where free-roaming animals include bison, giraffes, zebras, rheas, and elands. Guests can purchase feed and offer it to animals that approach the wagon.
Global Wildlife Center also offers several specialty experiences, including private and semi-private Pinz tours, homeschool meet-ups, a Kangaroo Walkabout Experience, a Capybara Creativity Encounter, and seasonal sunset safaris featuring animals from Australia, Africa, and South America.
I noticed one four-legged creature isolated and walking feebly in the distance. Pointing him out to our tour guide, she immediately stopped and called for a med tech to come check him out. It was hard to leave without making sure he was okay.
The animals are well taken care of. Employees know the names and personalities of many of the animals, caring for them as if they were their own. Returning visitors develop favorites, and having a giraffe come to you for food is a special treat.
The fun at Global Wildlife also supports a larger purpose. GWC contributes to the nonprofit Global Wildlife Foundation, whose mission centers on conservation of threatened and endangered species through education. During the June birthday celebration, one dollar from every weekend Safari Wagon ticket was also donated to the Giraffe Conservation Foundation to support giraffes in the wild.
But sometimes the wildest adventures are right here at home.
Global Wildlife Center is located at 26389 Highway 40, Folsom, LA 70437. They can be reached at 985-624-WILD.
Visit them at globalwildlife.com/.
