Dear John.

As 2021 is coming to an end, we are excited to share some good news with you.

Giraffe numbers are on the rise! 

Our latest estimate, based on numbers collated from all over Africa, stands at just over 117,000 giraffe in the wild – an increase of almost 20% since 2015.

While this is still a precariously low number – particularly when compared to African elephant: there is only 1 giraffe for every 3-4 elephant in Africa – we can see encouraging signs!

In some giraffe populations we single-handedly doubled their number through improved survey methods – or to put it simply: by counting them better!

Overall giraffe numbers are on the rise and the conservation efforts by GCF and many of our collaborative partners appear to be showing success. Most importantly, these numbers are increasing across all four species of giraffe. This is the first time that such trends have been reported in recent history.

Oh, and have you met Nigel, a Guinness World Record holder? 

2021 was a year full of conservation successes for giraffe.

We continue to bring back giraffe into areas with low numbers or where they have gone locally extinct. Increasing giraffe habitat is key to their conservation and translocations in Namibia and to Malawi are only two recent examples which GCF have been directly involved (click the links to see these translocations in action).

Working with partners is key to our conservation successes and we are excited that we recently signed a Memorandum of Understanding with the Ethiopian government to support them in all their giraffe conservation efforts and the Giraffe Conservation Strategy and Action Plan for the Kavango-Zambezi (KAZA) Transfrontier Conservation Area is in its final review stage.

GCF is a voice for giraffe ...

... and with your support we continue to go from strength to strength. What started as just an idea has developed into a passionate team of conservationists who are shaping giraffe conservation in 16 African countries impacting over 100 million acres of giraffe habitat. Not to mention our important conservation partners in Africa and internationally and last, but not least, our generous donors.

We could not do this without you – Thank YOU!

Julian & Steph Fennessy and the GCF team.