“They can get enough moisture from the plant life they eat and can survive in dry thornbush country and even in the desert,” the Sheldrick Wildlife Trust wrote on its website. “Gerenuks conserve water with uniquely adapted nasal passages, which prevent evaporative loss.”
After spending a year with his caretakers, Nuk chose to rejoin the wild. But that doesn’t mean he forgot the kindness people had shown him.
“For a while, he chose to return and visit those who raised him at Kaluku from time to time,” Amie Alden, communications and media manager for the Sheldrick Wildlife Trust, told The Dodo. “And we occasionally saw him on the airstrip with a herd of impalas he had taken a liking to.”
The gerenuk population is listed as near threatened by the IUCN Redlist due to poaching and habitat loss. However, Nuk is doing his best to make sure his quirky species have a long future in the wild.
“It seems he’s having a ball of a time and perhaps established his own territory,” Alden said. “Though it’s bittersweet not to see him, we are proud that he’s clearly found his place in the wild — a complete success story.”
To help other orphaned animals like Nuk, you can make a donation to the Sheldrick Wildlife Trust.