The Zimbabwean Parks and Wildlife Management Authority (ZimParks) partnered with the Giraffe Conservation Foundation to collaborate on giraffe conservation and management initiatives across Zimbabwe. Guided by a Memorandum of Understanding, key aspects of our work include the development of the first-ever National Giraffe Conservation Strategy and Action Plan, GPS satellite tagging of giraffe, a countrywide genetic assessment, and giraffe population surveys. Based on the genetic assessment, we now know that all giraffe in Zimbabwe are South African giraffe (Giraffa giraffa giraffa), one of the two subspecies of the southern giraffe (G. giraffa).
In collaboration with ZimParks and numerous other local conservation partners and reserves/properties, the Giraffe Conservation Foundation has tagged numerous giraffe in the country to better understand their movements in their natural range and in some cases post-translocation. A key part of this collaboration has been the opportunity to enhance the capacity of veterinarians, park rangers and conservation officials in best practices of giraffe capture techniques.
Our understanding of South African giraffe numbers and distribution in Zimbabwe has grown through targeted surveys, resulting in the first detailed assessment of their conservation status in the country. The impact of lion predation on the largest giraffe population in the country has been devastating, and such mismanagement has resulted in the country’s giraffe population dropping by more than a third in the last decade. Fortunately, populations in other private and public lands are showing opposite trends elsewhere in the country.
Furthermore, the Giraffe Conservation Foundation supports targeted environmental education of school children as well as students who undertake conservation science research on giraffe in Zimbabwe. Our efforts extend throughout the Kavango-Zambezi Transfrontier Conservation Area, the largest conservation area in the world that spans five southern African countries, whereby the Giraffe Conservation Foundation facilitated the development of the first-ever regional giraffe conservation strategy.
