Happy World Giraffe Day 2018 and a song for the Summer Solstice

Happy World Giraffe Day!  For this year's celebration, I'm sharing three videos from Jacksonville University's The Science of... series about giraffe conservation.  First, What do Giraffes at the Jacksonville Zoo and Gardens Eat?

What do giraffes eat - Watch a giraffe eat a whole banana, skin and all, and get a behind the scenes peek at preparing mixed herbs and alfalfa for the giraffe herd, as well as learn about some of the plants that the giraffes browse and graze on as they roam about their “African” Savanna at the Jacksonville Zoo and Gardens.

I can tell keepers Aree and LeShea really enjoy their work and love their charges.  That's good for both them and the giraffes.

Next, Giraffes... Duke and His Family Tree.

Forrest and Fiji are the youngest giraffes at Jacksonville Zoo and Gardens, and their dad, Duke, has sired 14 additional offspring. See these giraffes and learn a little bit about their family tree by mammal keeper LeShea Upchurch.

That was both cool and informative, but I wished they told the viewers what they did with the giraffes they didn't keep.  I assume the Jacksonville Zoo sends them to other zoos as part of the Reticulated Giraffe conservation plan.

Speaking of which, the final video about the giraffes at the Jacksonville Zoo is a science video, Endangered Giraffes... 4 species or 1?

Giraffe genetics, ossicones, coat spots and patterns, where endangered giraffes live, how many giraffe species there are, Giraffe Conservation Foundation, and Jacksonville Zoo and Gardens! Join Faraja the giraffe, Jacksonville Zoo and Gardens Conservation Program Officer, Lucas Meers, and Dr. Julian Fennessy, Co-director of the Giraffe Conservation Foundation to learn about giraffes, their plight, and what you can do to help!

The Giraffe Conservation Foundation is the organization behind World Giraffe Day, so I think it's only appropriate that one of their directors appears in a video today.

Enough science.  How about some music for the Summer Solstice?  Here are Camille and Kennerly, better known as the Harp Twins, with Beneath the Midnight Sun (SUMMER SOLSTICE Original Song).


Happy Solstice!  Stay tuned for an entry about drum corps shows with speculative fiction themes.