3 minute read
STANDING TALL FOR GIRAFFE with Stephanie Fennessy
WITH STEPHANIE FENNESSY
STANDING TALL FOR GIRAFFE
Stephanie Fennessy is the Co-Director and Co-Founder of the Giraffe Conservation Foundation (GCF). GCF is the only organization in the world that concentrates solely on the conservation and management of giraffe in the wild throughout Africa. From their base in Windhoek, GCF currently works in 15 African countries to secure a future for giraffe in the wild.
“We often call them the forgotten giants of Africa because they go under the radar. Everyone just assumes they’re everywhere, especially here in Namibia.
“Our estimates say that there are only about 111 000 giraffe left in Africa – that’s a drop of almost 30% in three decades – so their numbers have plummeted and giraffe are now listed as ‘Vulnerable’ on the IUCN Red List of Endangered Species.
We are always really concerned about the elephant, for example, but there are at least 400 000 to 450 000 elephant in Africa. It is important to be concerned about them, but if you compare the numbers, there are 4 elephant for every 1 giraffe. People should really start thinking about giraffe as well.
And did you know that there are four different species of giraffe? Our research over the last 15 years has shown that there are four distinct species of giraffe. These different species split about 370 000 years ago. Three of these four species live across East, Central and West Africa and they are in real trouble.
“On the positive side, giraffe are doing really well here in Namibia (and Southern Africa). We predominantly have Angolan giraffe – a subspecies of Southern giraffe, and a few South African giraffe (the other subspecies of the Southern giraffe) live naturally in Bwabwata NP. Almost half of Africa’s giraffe population lives in Southern Africa and we estimate that there are at least 12 000 giraffe here in Namibia. That is a relatively healthy number, they are widely distributed in national parks, communal lands and commercial farms – so here in Namibia, it’s really a giraffe success story. “The Giraffe Conservation Foundation works all throughout Africa. We are the go-to organization for giraffe and are involved in giraffe conservation programmes on all four giraffe species in more than 15 African countries. Aside from Namibia, one of the biggest programmes we have is in Uganda. In Uganda they have Nubian giraffe – this subspecies is listed as ‘Critically Endangered’ and we estimate there are only about 3 000 Nubian giraffe remaining in the wild. In Uganda, like many countries, we undertake regular population surveys, have community and school education programmes, support anti-poaching and de-snaring efforts, GPS satellite tag giraffe and coordinate translocations to set up new and/or augment small populations.
“Here in Namibia, GCF runs the largest environmental education programme in the country called KEEP, the Khomas Environment Education Programme, which takes grade 3 and 4 students from primary schools for a school day to Daan Viljoen Game Reserve. Three young Namibian conservationists run this programme and take between 2 500 and 3 000 children into the bush per year. We teach the kids about their environment, conservation and sustainability. The programme is closely linked to the Namibian school curriculum. We focus on under-resourced schools and most of these kids have never seen a giraffe (or any animal) in the wild before. We hope to reconnect Namibian kids with nature by showing them the beauty of our country. These are our future leaders and decision-makers – they can make a difference for our future.”
21 June is World Giraffe Day. GCF initiated this – the longest day or night of the year for the tallest animal. Why don’t you stand tall for
giraffe with us this year on World Giraffe Day?
