Our News

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.

Just before Christmas, the seventh issue of the Giraffa Newsletter has been released and can be downloaded on the GCF website. Giraffa has a new look, as In the spirit of collaboration and coordination the newsletter is now a combined publication of the IUCN SSC ASG International Working Group (IGWG) and GCF.

An exciting animation feature is due to hit movie theatres early next year: Zarafa. The animated family adventure will be released in France on 8 February 2012. GCF is very excited about this release as it will once again bring giraffe into the limelight and the plight of this iconic species to the world.

The GCF would not exist without the technical, financial, conservation and in-kind support of our many partners. Working collaboratively is the only way we will be able to achieve our objectives, especially with the natural world shrinking as human populations and their impact grows. Most recently GCF was able to add another well known name to this already impressive list of supporters and partners: Namibian photographer and filmmaker Paul van Schalkwyk.

The Giraffe Conservation Foundation (GCF) is currently the only international giraffe conservation organisation in the world. Until recently, GCF entirely relied on its Board of Trustees to volunteer their time in order to make giraffe conservation work a reality. GCF has now released its Annual Report 2010/11. Please follow the link below to download the report from our website and read more about our work and achievements in 2010/11.

In early July 2011, GCF together with the IUCN SSC ASG International Giraffe Working Group and the Namibia Nature Foundation as in-country host organised the world’s first ever Wild Giraffe Conference in Namibia. The Giraffe Indaba - The forgotten Megafauna - attracted over 30 delegates from 11 countries and was a great success. A lot of information on the Indaba is now available online. Please visit the Events section of the GCF website to read more about this groundbreaking conference.