Tufani is the Swahili word for storm and once upon a time, a giraffe bearing that name ambled across the hillsides of Safari West. A massive, graceful creature, Tufani stood nearly nineteen feet tall and lived a life of celebrity here. Immensely popular with our guests, this darkly patterned giant of a giraffe had a habit of investigating every safari truck that came rumbling through his enclosure. Approaching the vehicles, Tufani would treat the crowds to an up close and very personal visit. Few experiences in life compare with coming face-to-massive-face with a full grown giraffe!

As a Masai giraffe, the most startling of the nine recognized giraffe sub-species, Tufani really stood out in the crowd. In America, we’re most accustomed to the reticulated giraffe with their blocky brown spots and light yellow lines. Masai giraffes like Tufani look somewhat different. Their spots tend to be more leaf-shaped than geometrical and they are often much darker in color. Some of our darkest Masai giraffes are so dark that they appear nearly black.

As the years went by and Tufani carried on about the business of being a large male giraffe, he courted and bred with our tallest Masai female, a long-necked beauty by the name of Jamala. As a result, back in April of 2014, we had the privilege of welcoming their firstborn, a beautiful baby boy named Phoenix. With the addition of this six-foot newborn, we suddenly found ourselves living with a nuclear family of Masai giraffe. People turned out in droves to witness the amazing sight of our sky-high Masai family. It was a beautiful time.

Then tragedy struck. In November of 2014, Tufani very suddenly passed away. We were devastated by his loss and continue to miss his enormous presence to this day. Over a year after his passing, we continue to have guests on safari asking about Tufani. It always hurts to break it to his fans that our gentle giant has passed on.

It’s been said that every cloud has a silver lining and the silver in this story showed up only recently. On January 20th, some fourteen months and nineteen days after Tufani’s passing, Jamala went into labor again. A short time later she gave birth to another Masai male! As it turns out, the average length of giraffe gestation is thirteen to fifteen months. Apparently, in the week or two before his passing, Tufani and Jamala came together one last time to produce this miraculous final scion; the last son of Tufani and Jamala and a baby brother to Phoenix!

Every baby is exciting here at Safari West, but this one is special. A bright, beautiful gift by which to remember his well-loved father. Please join us in celebrating the birth of Tufani Junior! Little TJ is just over a month old and while he has a long way to grow before he reaches the lofty heights of his famous parents, he’s off to a great start.

Come by Safari West this spring and watch TJ (alongside Nikki and Dubs, our other giraffe youngsters) as they make their start out here in the wilds of Sonoma County.