Presented during the 17h Annual Sahelo-Saharan Interest Group Meeting organized by the NGO Sahara Conservation Fund in Senegal, from 4 to 6 May 2017. The Sahara Conservation Fund (SCF) gathers every year about a hundred people who are interested in the field of Sahelo-Saharan species conservation.

1. 17th Annual Sahelo-Saharan Interest Group Meeting
2 days of talks on biodiversity conservation in the Sahara and in the Sahel
Saving the last West African Giraffe
Arthur MUNEZA, East Africa Coordinator - Giraffe Conservation Fund
May 4 – 6, 2017

2. Saving the Last West African Giraffe
17th Annual Sahelo-Saharan Interest Group, St. Louis, Senegal
Arthur B. Muneza
East Africa Coordinator
Giraffe Conservation Foundation

4. Distribution of giraffe subspecies

5. Giraffe population trends

6. Giraffe population trends
COMMON NAME SCIENTIFIC NAME HISTORICAL
ESTIMATE
CURRENT
ESTIMATE
PERCENTAGE
CHANGE
CURRENT IUCN
CONSERVATION STATUS
West African G. c. peralta ~ 50 477 700% Endangered
South African G. c. giraffa 8,000 21,387 167% Not Assessed
Angolan G. c. angolensis 5,000 13,031 161% Not Assessed
Rothschild’s G. c. rothschildi 1,330 1,671 26% Endangered
Thornicroft’s G. c. thornicrofti 600 600 0% Not Assessed
Kordofan G. c. antiquorum 3,696 2,000 -46% Not Assessed
Masai G. c. tippleskirchi 66,449 31,611 -52% Not Assessed
Reticulated G. c. reticulata 37,950 8,661 -77% Not Assessed
Nubian G. c. camelopardalis 20,577 650 -97% Not Assessed

7. Threats to giraffe conservation
§ Habitat loss and land fragmentation

8. Threats to giraffe conservation
§ Poaching and snaring

9. Threats to giraffe conservation
§ Human conflict ↔ lack of long-term research efforts

10. Threats to giraffe conservation
§ Disease (Rinderpest, Anthrax, Lumpy Skin Disease,
Giraffe Ear Disease, Giraffe Skin Disease)

11. Threats to giraffe conservation
§ Ecological changes (mining, livestock overgrazing,
climate change)

12. Giraffe Conservation Foundation
• 9 subspecies
• 14 countries in Africa
• Conservation efforts in
collaboration with
partners
• Financial and/or
technical support
• Awareness and
education

13. Giraffe taxonomy

14. Historical distribution

15. Vision: “Des populations viables de
la girafe peralta, endémique
d’Afrique de l’Ouest, vivent dans
tous les écosystèmes favorables au
Niger et ailleurs, coexistent
harmonieusement avec les
communautés locales, et sont mises
en valeur au profit des générations
actuelles et futures.”
“Viable populations of the West
African giraffe, endemic to West
Africa, persist in all suitable
ecosystems in Niger and elsewhere,
coexist harmoniously with local
communities, and are valued for the
benefit of present and future
generations.”

16. • Goal: To ensure the survival of the West African giraffe by improving its conservation in the
Giraffe Zone with local stakeholders and by creating metapopulations.
1. Bridging the information gap on habitat quality and the carrying capacity of the Giraffe
Zone
2. Ensuring a better understanding of the spatial ecology of giraffe
3. Undertaking regular ecological monitoring
4. Increasing data sharing and raising awareness
5. Mitigating the direct causes of giraffe mortality
6. Attenuating the effects of giraffe on the environment
7. Enhance the human, material, and financial capacity of services in the country
8. Improving and enforcing existing regulations
9. Preserve giraffe habitat
10. Improve the health condition of livestock and better understand the health status of
giraffe
11. Regulate the access of pastoralists to the Giraffe Zone
12. Controlling and enforcing texts
13. Mitigate the effects of climate change on giraffe habitat
14. Mitigate the negative environmental impacts of the railway, particularly on the
conservation of giraffe
Action Plans of strategy

17. Increased monitoring efforts

18. 2016 census
Age groups
Sex
Adults
Sub -
adults
Juveniles Calves TOTAL
Indexed and observed males 59 14 14 0 87
Indexed and observed females 111 12 10 0 133
Newly observed males 0 17 4 14 35
Newly observed females 3 5 15 22 45
Indexed males, not observed during
2016 census
74 42 51 0
167
Indexed females, not observed during
2016 census
56 7 20 0 83
TOTAL 303 97 114 36 550
Indexed giraffes, non-identified sex 3
Indexed individuals died between 2015
& 2016 census
6
TOTAL ESTIMATE OF THE POPULATION 547
Cf: Ministère de l’Environnement et du Développement Durable du Niger, October 2016

19. Expanding the ‘Giraffe Zone’

21. Operation Twiga

25. 15 giraffe
10 females + 5 males
Expanding the ‘Giraffe Zone’

26. Next steps: collaboration with SCF
§ Local Nigerien to provide field
support to GCF and SCF field
projects; liaise with government
officials; technical support to AVEN
§ Carry out field surveys in Termit &
Tin-Toumma National Nature
Reserve, Aïr & Ténéré National
Nature Reserve, and Gadabedji
Game Reserve
§ Provide support (logistics, technical,
administrative, fund raising) to the
ostrich project in Niger

27. Next steps: supporting communities
§ Encouraging more approaches
allowing local people to get
involved in conservation actions of
giraffe and its habitat
§ Creating a scientific committee for
the West African giraffe
§ Designing an adapted model for an
ecological database about giraffe;
§ Organising anti-poaching programs
in the central area to dissuade
potential transgressors

28. How can we save giraffe?
• Long term monitoring (Giraffe WildBook, equipment, support rangers,
identifying habitat requirements, threats, movement data/spatial
ecology, etc)

29. Questions?