We can only conserve what we know; therefore, gaining a better understanding of giraffe numbers, trends and distribution is critical. The Giraffe Conservation Foundation was the first organization to bring giraffe data and survey result from all throughout Africa together and analyze this information.
The Giraffe Conservation Foundation continues to build on a solid foundation of data by working with partners throughout Africa to survey and monitor giraffe populations. Surveying giraffe plays a crucial role in informing conservation actions aimed at protecting these iconic and threatened species, preserving the biodiversity of their habitats, and provides a better understanding on questions that inform our conservation efforts:
- What do giraffe need?
- How do giraffe move? Do species or sexes move differently?
- How much space do populations need?
- How do giraffe use their habitat?
- What drives their movements?
Some giraffe population numbers doubled overnight, simply by applying better counting methods or collating the data in an organized manner. As the Giraffe Conservation Foundation continues to generate increased interest in giraffe, these iconic animals are more often included in regular game counts or larger counting efforts (e.g. the Great Elephant Count) and available data is increasing shared to help assess their status.
The GCF team continues to conduct surveys of key giraffe populations throughout the continent, and as part of ongoing capacity building and field support, we regularly train African conservationists, such as government staff, rangers, conservancy members and eco-guards, in effective giraffe monitoring and continue to provide valuable funding support to their surveys and monitoring initiatives. Collaboratively, we monitor more than 100 populations across all four species.
As every giraffe can be identified by their unique coat pattern, we use photo identification software to determine how many giraffe live in each population. Currently, more than 20,000 giraffe are individually monitored Africa-wide using GiraffeSpottere.org, which makes our giraffe monitoring and survey program the largest in the wild.
