Giraffe were on the move!
This year alone, GCF supported conservation translocations of 55 giraffe in three African countries.
2020 has been a crazy and difficult year for all of us – including for giraffe. While many people around the world were stuck at home, GCF and giraffe were on the move all over Africa this year!
Together with our many partners, this year alone we successfully translocated giraffe in Namibia, South Africa and Uganda. Conservation translocations are an important conservation tool to bolster existing small populations and to bring giraffe back to areas where they have gone locally extinct.
We are very excited to let you know that Operation Twiga V was another great success in Uganda! Thanks to YOUR support on World Giraffe Day 2020, 15 critically endangered Nubian giraffe were safely translocated from Murchison Falls National Park to Pian Upe Wildlife Reserve where they joined the giraffe that were moved in Operation Twiga IV in 2019.
You can witness the release of five Nubian giraffe in Uganda in the video below – how much better can it get?!
In November, we moved ten giraffe to Somkhanda Community Game Reserve in South Africa to give the small existing giraffe population a boost. This translocation is not only good news for giraffe but also for the local community who owns the reserve. A healthy giraffe population has the potential to attract more tourists, which in turn will provide employment opportunities and income for the local community.
A win-win for all partners involved!
Watch the Somkhanda translocation video below.
Last but not least: in June 2020, together with the Namibian Ministry of Environment, Forestry and Tourism, we moved 30 giraffe in Namibia. These Angolan giraffe made their way safely to Mangetti National Park and two communal conservancies across northern Namibia to bolster the existing populations. Namibia’s Community Based Natural Resource Management Programme is often used as a model for community conservation programmes and shows that people can share their space with wildlife.
Saving giraffe is a collaborative effort. We could not do this important work without our many partners.
My 6 year old daughter and I just watched a documentary you did on giraffe conservation and watched with excitement how you and your team moved giraffe across the Nile. We counted 16 on the first voyage. We wondered if any of them have had babies yet?
Thanks so much for insipiring us here in Australia.
Amazing work.
All the best,
Ceri and Annabelle
G’day Ceri & Annabelle,
Glad to hear that you enjoyed the documentary.
In January 2016, UWA with support from GCF successfully translocated a first group of 18 over the Nile River to the southern bank – Operation Twiga I. This new Nubian giraffe population was further augmented in August 2017, when 19 more giraffe were moved across the Nile River in Operation Twiga II. GCF provided significant financial support to both translocations, largely through funding raised during World Giraffe Day 2015 and 2018. After several births, the new population is now estimated at 45 individuals, indicating a solid and sustainable Nubian giraffe population in this part of the Park.
Feel free to read more about these translocations here – https://giraffeconservation.org/programmes/uganda-programme/
Thank you for your reply. We are excited to read that the new population is growing 🙂