Rain-sipping giraffe finds ‘joy in every drop,’ Maryland zoo says. Check out the video
A giraffe at a Maryland zoo may have found an easier — and safer — way to drink water when he’s thirsty.
Caesar the giraffe, who lives at the Maryland Zoo in Baltimore, was shown sipping up raindrops with his long tongue in the zoo’s Sunday, Sept. 17, Facebook post.
“Rainy days bring peaceful vibes from the giraffe yard. Caesar finds joy in every drop,” the zoo wrote in its Facebook post.
Those in the comments had an outpouring of love for Caesar’s creative rain-catching method, with one person calling it the “Best Giraffe video ever!!!”
In an Instagram post caption, the zoo added some musical wordplay by changing up the lyrics to B.J. Thomas’ song “Raindrops Keep Fallin’ On My Head” to say “raindrops keep fallin’ on my *tongue.*”
For giraffes, drinking water is no simple task, however, as it could potentially put them in danger. Because their necks aren’t long enough to reach the ground standing up, giraffes are forced to “spread their legs and bend down in an awkward position” to drink water, according to Shamwari Private Game Reserve, which is a South African company focused on land conservation.
The odd-looking split move makes giraffes more at risk to predators, Shamwari’s website says, so giraffes only drink water every few days.
The reticulated giraffe, a subspecies of giraffes that includes Caesar, is listed as a vulnerable population on the Maryland Zoo website, which is a level before being considered endangered by the International Union for Conservation of Nature.
Giraffes also have a “clever system of valves” to regulate their blood pressure when they bend over to drink water, according to PBS documentary “Nature’s Biggest Beasts.” This helps the animals avoid getting a head rush from drinking water, the documentary said.
Caesar’s openness to try new things has followed him throughout his time at the Maryland Zoo. In 2019, he was the first of his four-giraffe herd to “venture out of the barn into the expanded yard” when his habitat was newly renovated, according to the zoo’s blog.
The Maryland Zoo has a live camera feed of its giraffe feeding station where site visitors can watch giraffes like Caesar.
