It’s not long now before we hit the 21^st June – and of course what’s special about that is that it’s the longest day of the year – which means it’s World Giraffe Day, too!  

World Giraffe Day gives us all an important chance to raise awareness of the challenges giraffes face in the wild.  The day puts a light on what is known as the giraffe's 'Silent Extinction'. 

Giraffe face a Silent Extinction if we don’t act

Over the past 35 years, giraffe numbers have decreased by nearly 30% and there are only about 117,000 giraffe left in the wild now.  The Giraffe Conservation Foundation needs all our help in saving them.  It initiated World Giraffe Day both to celebrate The Giraffe and to give us all the opportunity to help raise awareness of what giraffes face in the wild.   

• Giraffe have gone extinct in at least 7 African countries
• In the last 300 years, we’ve lost 90% of all giraffe habitat
• Human population growth across Africa is having a huge impact on giraffe and other wildlife

The Giraffe Conservation Foundation is the only organisation in the world which concentrates solely on the conservation and management of giraffe in the wild throughout Africa.  Giraffe are still vulnerable to extinction, according to the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species.

It works in 15 African countries across 45 million acres of giraffe habitat.  And it is making a difference to giraffe and I quote:   

• Over 300 giraffe returned to their historical habitat
• 18 new giraffe populations established
• Over 100 giraffe born in original giraffe habitats
• Over 12 million acres of giraffe habitat reclaimed
• Over 5 million data points recorded
• Impact on over 100 million acres of giraffe habitat
  
  

The Foundation is really busy!  It takes conservation actions such as...

• Rewildling and giraffe conservation translocations - this is a very important conservation tool.  This video tells you about the longest wild giraffe translocation ever undertaken by road in Malawi.  
• National and regional giraffe conservation strategies
• A giraffe resource centre, to make scientific information available and accessible
• Conservation technology - GCF gives technical assistance and expert guidance to governments, academics, conservation organisations and individuals across Africa
• A Twiga Tracker - the largest GPS satellite tracking study of giraffe.  I think this is very exciting!  It aims to improve conservation efforts by better understanding the needs and movement of giraffe - and their habitat use
• Twiga Wetu - this involves working with local communities and enhancing conservation capacity.  
• A GiraffeSpotter - this is a photo-identification database.  It helps survey giraffe in the wild, and it uses AI aided pattern recognition.  This means it's possible to identify the giraffe by their own unique spot pattern.  
• An African Wildlife Vet Course, with an annual hands-on training course.  Vets are often working in the wild without access to a veterinary hospital.  
• Giraffe Taxonomy.   The GCF has reserach based on over 1,000 tissue samples which have been collated from the major giraffe populations.  IT's shown tehre are 4 distinct giraffe species and 7 subspecies.  This all has implications for the future of giraffe in Africa
• Population surveys - these are often the first step in conserving a species 

The Giraffe Conservation Foundation works on, and manages and supports giraffe conservation programmes. 

• Masai Giraffe Conservation, Rwanda 
• Nubian Giraffe Conservation, Uganda
• Luangwa Giraffe Conservation, Zambia
• Masai Giraffe Conservaiton, Kenya
• Southern Giraffe Conservation, South Africa
• Southern Giraffe Conservation, Malawi
• Kordofan Giraffe Consrevation in Chad - the species in the most trouble, as they are critically endangered
• West African Giraffe Conservation in Niger - their numbers have gone up from 49 to over 600, thanks to conservation efforts by the GCF and Niger government.  This is great news, but the area is politically volatile. 
• Nubian Giraffe Conservation in South Sudan
• Kordofan Giraffe Conservation in DRC - there are threats from poaching and rebel activities, but incredibly, GCF, African Parks and the DRC government have been able to grow giraffe numbers
• Reticulated giraffe conservation in Kenya
• Southern Giraffe Conservation in Namibia
• Southern Giraffe conservation in Botswana
• Masai giraffe conservation in Tanzania
• Kordofan giraffe conservation in Cameroon
• Southern giraffe conservation in Zimbabwe
• Southern giraffe conservation in Zambia
• Southern giraffe conservation in the KAZA TFCA
• Southern giraffe conservation in Eswatini
• Nubian giraffe conservaition in Kenya

They are also doing a lot of education;  in Namibia, GCF runs one the largest environmental education programme there.  Amongst other things, it aims to teach youngsters about their environment and reconnect them with nature through field-based learning.

Action is essential - and so is all our support.

Enter World Giraffe Day!

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Zoos, schools, governments, companies and NGOs are hosting events to help raise awareness, and you can get involved and do your bit.  Stick your neck out and raise awareness of giraffes and remind people of their beauty on social media!

Giraffe Translocation

The charity has a translocation programme, moving giraffe.  Giraffe are moving to areas where there are very few or no giraffe.  They are also caught, and then given satellite tracking units so that they can be tracked which enables conservationists to find out more about their movements.  Catching and tracking giraffe provides an excellent opportunity to find out as much as possible about these beautiful animals.  You can look at Returning Angolan Giraffe to their Natural Homeland to get an idea of what's involved...

You can read about their recent work and news here.

Ways to help the Giraffe Conservation Foundation help giraffe

There's a World Giraffe Day fundraiser  which runs until 15th July 2026.  As the  Giraffe Conservation Foundation say, Keep calm and save a giraffe!

• Share news and photos on social media – why do you love giraffes so much?  What makes you care about them?
• Donate to the Giraffe Conservation Foundation
• Adopt a giraffe (it’s okay, your giraffe won’t come and live with you!)
• Buy something from the Giraffe Conservation Fund’s online shop e.g. a t-shirt for World Giraffe Day!  There are limited edition prints of giraffes, too! 
• Sign up for updates on giraffe conservation so that you can spread the word here - click here and scroll down to do tha

#StandTallforGiraffe

Show how you #StandTallforGiraffe – literally!   Take a photo of yourself standing tall – you could make it a group photo, but please bear social distancing rules in mind!  A baby giraffe measures about 2m at birth – whilst the adults reach the giddy heights of over 5m.

Or come up with something that’s giraffe inspired – a cake with a giraffe on it, or paint a picture – just show how giraffes have inspired you and spread the message on social media of World Giraffe Day!

And tag the Giraffe Conservation Foundation on social media - here are the tags…

• Facebook: @giraffeconservationfoundation
• You Tube
• Instagram: @giraffe_conservation
• Twitter: @save_giraffe

And use these hashtags to spread the message!

• #GiraffeConservationFoundation
• #WorldGiraffeDay
• #StickYourNeckOutForGiraffe
• #StandTallForGiraffe

 Visit the Giraffe Conservation Foundation here and remember, Keep Calm and Save Giraffe!