Betty Leslie-Melville (née McDonnell; March 7, 1927 – September 23, 2005) was an American born author and conservationist.

Early life

Born in

Baltimore, Maryland Baltimore ( , locally: or ) is the most populous city in the U.S. state of Maryland, fourth most populous city in the Mid-Atlantic, and the 30th most populous city in the United States with a population of 585,708 in 2020. Baltimore was ...

on March 7, 1927, the daughter of a chiropractor, Leslie-Melville attended Johns Hopkins University.

Family life

Betty married Jock Leslie-Melville in 1964. She was instrumental in creating sanctuaries to preserve the subspecies of the

Rothschild's giraffe Rothschild's giraffe (''Giraffa camelopardalis rothschildi'') is a subspecies of the Northern giraffe. It is one of the most endangered distinct populations of giraffe, with 1,399 mature individuals estimated in the wild in 2018. Taxonomy and ...

in Kenya. Often called the "Giraffe Lady," she spent much of her life living and working in Kenya protecting and caring for the Rothschild's giraffe population there, primarily through a breeding programme established at her residence,

Giraffe Manor Giraffe Manor is a small hotel in the Lang'ata suburb of Nairobi, Kenya which, together with its associated Giraffe Centre, serves as a home to a number of endangered Rothschild's giraffes, and operates a breeding programme to reintroduce breedi ...

. During her time working there, the Rothschild's giraffe population grew from about one hundred twenty to over four hundred. Along with her husband Jock Leslie-Melville and their adopted giraffe Daisy, they were the subject of the film ''The Last Giraffe'' (1979) with

Susan Anspach Susan Florence Anspach (; November 23, 1942 – April 2, 2018) was an American stage, film and television actress, who was best known for her roles in films during the 1970s and 1980s such as ''Five Easy Pieces'' (1970), '' Play It Again, Sa ...

playing Betty.The Last Giraffe (1979) (TV)
Internet Movie Database As part of their fund-raising efforts, Betty and Jock Leslie-Melville collaborated on a series of books about animals, most of them characterized by Betty's rather entertaining style. ''Raising Daisy Rothschild'' (1977) "the story of two delightful young people and how they raised and grew to love a young giraffe... or two" became a best-seller. Other animal stories and fiction publications include: ''Elephant Have Right of Way'' (1973), ''There's a Rhino in the Rose Bed'', ''Mother'' (1973), ''That Nairobi Affair'' (1975), ''Bagamoyo: Here I Leave My Heart'' (1983), ''A Falling Star: A True Story of Romance'' (1986), ''The Giraffe Lady'' (1997), ''Daisy Rothschild: The Giraffe That Lives with Me'' (children's book, 1987), and ''Walter Warthog'' (1989), a children's story about the tame warthog they named after their friend Walter Cronkite, the

CBS News CBS News is the news division of the American television and radio service CBS. CBS News television programs include the ''CBS Evening News'', ''CBS Mornings'', news magazine programs '' CBS News Sunday Morning'', '' 60 Minutes'', and '' 48 H ...

anchorman. The books helped to raise more funds for the

Giraffe Centre The Giraffe Centre is located in Lang'ata, approximately from the centre of Nairobi, Kenya. It was established in order to protect the vulnerable giraffe, that is found only in the grasslands of East Africa. In 1979, the Giraffe Center, a nature ...

that they set up at

Lang'ata Lang'ata is a predominantly middle-class residential suburb of Nairobi in Kenya. The suburb consists of many smaller housing developments, referred to as estates. They include Nairobi Dam, Otiende, Southlands, Ngei, Jambo estate, Onyonka, Mada ...

, Kenya in 1983. She died on September 23, 2005, in Baltimore.

References

1927 births 2005 deaths American conservationists Keepers of animal sanctuaries People from Baltimore People from Maryland Writers about Africa Johns Hopkins University alumni {{environmentalist-stub

Early life

Family life

See also

References