Meet Nuk, an orphaned gerenuk who has never touched a drop of water in his life.
Nuk was found as a newborn and reared by caretakers at Kenya’s Sheldrick Wildlife Trust.
The Sheldrick Wildlife Trust posted on Facebook, “We rescued Nuk… in 2013 when he shocked livestock herders by strolling home with their goats.” “Clearly, he’d lost his mother and felt that passing goats would be a fine next step!”
In a hot area, most animals need to remain hydrated, but gerenuks don’t follow the rules. With long, thin necks, small heads, and huge eyes and ears that give them an extraterrestrial look, these animals are difficult to miss.
The Gerenuk’s distinctive appearance allows them to access vegetation that antelopes and gazelles cannot. They have their pick of the tall shrubs and high branches by rising on their hind legs and stretching their giraffe-like necks. They’re also much taller than most humans.
Gerenuks don’t need to go looking for water because of their diet and particular nostrils.
The Sheldrick Wildlife Trust noted on its website, “They can receive enough moisture from the plant life they eat and can thrive in dry thornbush terrain and even in the desert.” “Gerenuks save water by having specially designed nasal passages that avoid evaporation.”
Nuk opted to return to the wild after a year with his carers. But it doesn’t mean he forgot about the compassion he’d received.
The Sheldrick Wildlife Trust’s communications and media manager, Amie Alden, told The Dodo that “for a while, he preferred to come and visit people who nurtured him in Kaluku from time to time.” “And we’d occasionally see him on the runway with a herd of impalas he’d developed a fondness for.”
Due to hunting and habitat destruction, the IUCN Redlist classifies the gerenuk population as near threatened. Nuk, on the other hand, is doing everything he can to ensure that his peculiar species has a long future in the wild.
“It appears he’s having a good time and has probably formed his own domain,” says the author “Alden remarked. “We are happy that he has definitely found his niche in the wild – a great success story.”
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