The story of a South African family and their pet giraffe (10 Photos)

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Meet Fenne, the pet giraffe, who lived in the South African home of Colin McRae, 59, wife Theony, 52 and their four children. Fenne lived with the family from birth, and in only 2 years grew to be over 10 feet tall. Four years ago Theony’s son, Craig, then 19, was leading a safari when he discovered dehydrated Fenne in the hot South African bush after she was abandoned by her mother. Craig and the family nursed her back to health by feeding her cow’s milk mixed with eggs. Overtime the odd pairing grew to be very close friends….

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Theony describes her experience with Fenne spending time in their house: “On carpet she was alright, and sometimes she would step right over furniture to get around. But she didn’t bump her head on things, she was very careful to bend down under things.”

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However, tragically Fenne died suddenly after eating a poisoned leaf while grazing in the wild. Fenne was just like a member of the family, Theony remembers. ‘Fenne loved company, when she felt like it she would come right indoors to look for us – even though she was ten-feet tall.