Good news on the Giraffe front! Researchers from the Giraffe Conservation Foundation (GCF) — www.giraffeconservation.org for those who share my fascination with these animals — report that there has been a dramatic increase in the population of the highly endangered West African race of the Giraffe, Giraffa camelopardalis peralta. In historical times, this race ranged from the shores of the Atlantic in Senegal to the west bank of the White Nile, but because of habitat destruction, hunting and competition with domestic livestock, their numbers decreased dramatically. By 1996, the herds of thousands had been reduced to a tiny remnant population of just 50 near Niamey, the capital of Niger. Last month, the GCF announced that the population has quadrupled, numbering some 200 animals and still increasing. Good news indeed, but what does this have to do with Egypt?

A crisp African dawn is breaking overhead, and Zibo Mounkaila is on the back of a pickup truck bounding across a sparse landscape of rocky orange soil. The tallest animals on earth are here, the guide says, somewhere amid the scant green bush on one side, and the thatched dome villages on the other.

They're here, but by all accounts, they shouldn't be.

A hundred years ago, West Africa's last giraffes numbered in the thousands and their habitat stretched from Senegal's Atlantic Ocean coast to Chad, in the heart of the continent. By the dawn of the 21st century, their world had shrunk to a tiny zone southeast of the capital, Niamey, stretching barely 150 miles (240 kilometers) long. The numbers of the Western subspecies dwindled so low that in 1996, they numbered a mere 50.

Instead of disappearing as many feared, though, the giraffes have bounced miraculously back from the brink of extinction, swelling to more than 200 today. It's an unlikely boon experts credit to a combination of concerned conservationists, a government keen for revenue, and a rare harmony with villagers who have accepted their presence — for now.

Julian Fennessy loves Africa and its extraordinary wildlife and is determined not to let one of its most iconic, and yet least understood, species become extinct. It defies belief, but several sub-species of giraffe - yes, it’s giraffe (plural) not giraffes - are on the verge of extinction. While giraffe as a whole species are on endangered watchlists, Julian’s ground-breaking genetic research suggests that giraffe sub-species are so distinct that they need to be protected and conserved at that level.

Julian is currently the Executive Director of the Kenya Land Conservation Trust, the current Chair (and founding member) of the International Giraffe Working Goup, and a founder and trustee of the Giraffe Conservation Foundation ... Df

Calling all Zookeepers, Veterinarians, Field and Zoo Researchers And Giraffe Conservationists!

 Mark your calendars for the Inaugural Giraffe Professionals Conference

Held at the Phoenix Zoo Feb. 21 – 24, 2010

 Keynote address by Julian Fennessy, Ph.D

  (Giraffe Conservation Foundation and IGWG)