Not one but two articles on giraffe made it into the latest Explorers Club Journal with articles from GCF’s Andy Tutchings and IGWG’s Derek E. Lee.

The controversial topic of giraffe trophy hunting takes centre stage by the UK's Daily Mail Online edition under the title "Is this really fun for the family". Wealthy tourist trophy hunters from around the world are paying thousands of pounds to shoot giraffes in Africa. Click on the title for the full story reprinted. GCF's Dr. Julian Fennessy is extensively quoted articulating the hunting situation, other giraffe threats such as poaching and why GCF was formed.

We would like to thank everyone who has been in contact since a number of media outlets circulated an article on giraffe trophy hunting earlier this month. We appreciate the level of concern raised by the article and accompanying photographs. We would therefore like to reassure concerned members of the public as well as all the supporters of the Giraffe Conservation Foundation (GCF) that GCF does NOT actively support trophy hunting. Nor do we receive any support from trophy hunting operators.

Giraffe numbers have nearly halved since the late 1990s from approx. 140,000 to less than 80,000 giraffe across Africa. This decline in numbers is due mainly to habitat loss, habitat segmentation, human population growth and illegal hunting.

GCF Research Associate JP Suraud successfully defended his PhD research at the University of Lyon and was awarded his doctorate in December 2011. JP conducted the field research for his PhD thesis in Niger, where he studied the population dynamics, home range and genetics of the last remaining West African giraffe population, Giraffa camelopardalis peralta. The project received financial and technical support from GCF over a number of years. With only approx. 250 West African giraffe remaining in the wild, JP's work was integral for having this subspecies listed as an endangered population on the IUCN Red List.