Giraffa camelopardalis, Giraffe Assessment by: Muller, Z. et al.
Taxonomic Notes: The IUCN SSC Giraffe and Okapi Specialist Group (GOSG) currently recognizes a single species, Giraffa camelopardalis. Nine subspecies of Giraffes are currently recognized (Dagg 2014), although some authorities dispute this taxonomic classification (e.g., Groves and Grubb 2011). Several subpopulations of Giraffe, resident in northern Botswana, northwest Zimbabwe, northeastern Namibia and southwestern Zambia, are […]
Use of home range behaviour to assess establishment in translocated giraffes
Conservation translocation is a management technique employed to introduce, re-introduce or reinforce wild animal and plant populations. Giraffe translocations are being conducted throughout Africa, but the lack of effective post-translocation monitoring limits our ability to assess translocation outcomes. One potential indicator of translocation success is the establishment of characteristic movement and home range behaviour in […]
The Ecology and Behaviour of Giraffe in Northern Botswana
Northern Botswana is one of the giraffe strongholds across its geographic range in the absence of, or with low impact from, the major anthropological threats faced elsewhere. Yet despite its conservation significance, until now, no giraffe specific ecological or behavioural studies have been undertaken. Moreover, Africa’s giraffe population has been significantly reduced over the last […]
Enclosure size in captive wild mammals: A comparison between UK zoological collections and the wild
A comparison was made between the average enclosure size of a random sample of mammals lept during the years 2000-2001in a random sample of UK zoological collections and the minimum home range of these taxa in the wild. Allometric laws were used to estimate the home range area, while direct observation from videotaped visits to […]
Updated geographic range maps for giraffe, Giraffa spp., throughout sub-Saharan Africa, and implications of changing distributions for conservation
Giraffe populations have declined in abundance by almost 40% over the last three decades, and the geographic ranges of the species (previously believed to be one, now defined as four species) have been significantly reduced or altered. With substantial changes in land uses, loss of habitat, declining abundance, translocations, and data gaps, the existing geographic […]
Correlates of home range sizes of giraffes, Giraffa camelopardalis
Abiotic, biotic and human influences are factors that can affect animal home ranges. We calculated home range sizes of adult giraffes in the Tarangire-Manyara region of northern Tanzania (N ¼ 132 giraffes with data collected over 6 years), and investigated correlations between home range sizes and environmental and anthropogenic factors (for a subset of N […]
Movement patterns and herd dynamics among South African giraffes (Giraffa camelopardalis giraffa)
Giraffes reside in a fission–fusion social system, with sex, age proximity, kinship and home range overlap accounting for some of the variance in herd composition, while season, sex, age and time of day influence diet, home range size and distance travelled. To increase our knowledge of habitat use and fission–fusion herd dynamics, we placed GPS […]
Overview of the ecology of the Niger giraffe
The giraffe of Niger are the last in all West Africa. It is threatened. They are both genetically and ecologically distinct from other giraffe and are therefore an important biodiversity remnant. Although baseline research has been limited, it does provide snapshots of what has happened to the population’s numbers and distribution over the past decade. […]
Fission-fusion dynamics in wild giraffes may be driven by kinship, spatial overlap and individual social preferences
Many species exhibit fission-fusion dynamics, yet the factors that influence the frequent changes in group size and membership in these species have not been widely studied. Social ties may be influenced by kinship but animals may also form preferred associations because of social attraction or may only associate because they have similar habitat preferences. We […]
Movements and group structure of giraffe (Giraffa camelopardalis) in Lake Manyara National Park, Tanzania
Movements and group structure of giraffe Giraffa camelopardalis were studied in Lake Manyara National Park, northern Tanzania. The giraffe population in Manyara had increased from 60 to 85 individuals between the early 1980s and 1991. This increase may have been the result of an increase in browse availability as a result of a dramatic decline […]