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Nubian
Giraffe
ENDANGERED
18x31''
1 Bitcoin
The Nubian Giraffe is one of the most threatened large mammals in the world. Current estimates indicate a total population of approximately 650, of which 450 are assumed to be adults. The Nubian giraffe is found in Ethiopia, Kenya, Uganda, South Sudan and Sudan and can be most often found in savannah & woodland habitats. They are browsers that subsist on a variable diet that includes leaves, stems, flowers, and fruits. They do not need to drink daily. Giraffe "horns" are special bone structures called ossicones. They are formed from ossified cartilage covered in skin and fur. Ossicones are flat when a giraffe is born, but within a few days of birth they will stand upright and become rigid. Both males and females can have oscines and some individuals may have additional bumps on the sides of their skulls that are irregularly located. Giraffes have a highly flexible prehensile tongue that they use to strip leaves from vegetation. The dark color of their tongue protects it from the African sun.
The Nubian giraffe used to be widespread everywhere on Northeast Africa, but, unfortunately, it is currently extinct in the wild in at least seven African countries. The subspecies was listed as Critically Endangered by the IUCN in 2018 for the first time due to a 95% decline in the past 3 decades. The combined impacts of habitat loss, habitat fragmentation, habitat degradation, human population growth, poaching, disease, war and civil unrest threaten the remaining giraffe numbers and their distribution throughout Africa. Many threats arise from direct, indirect or perceived competition for resources with humans and their livestock. As a species, they are one of the most threatened large mammals in the world. Human population pressure contributes significantly to environmental degradation in Ethiopia and South Sudan. Wildlife populations in the region have diminished over the past century in diversity, density and distribution as a result of loss of habitat, illegal hunting, land clearance for farming and land degradation due to overgrazing. Its restricted distribution and small subpopulations make the Nubian Giraffe especially susceptible to anthropogenic environmental degradation.
The Giraffe Conservation Foundation is the only organization in the world that concentrates solely on the conservation and management of giraffe in the wild throughout Africa. GCF is dedicated to a sustainable future for all giraffe populations in the wild, and more specifically aims to support the conservation of viable and existing habitat for giraffe by identifying key threats to giraffe in Africa and develop innovative ways to mitigate them. They also seek to raise awareness of and promote the value of giraffe conservation in African Range States as well as internationally by collaborating with local, national and international partners on giraffe conservation efforts in the interests of giraffe conservation in African Range States. GCF currently implements and supports giraffe conservation programs in 16 African giraffe range states. In the past 5 years alone, GCF together with partners has successfully: Collected extensive DNA samples of all key giraffe populations throughout Africa and shown that there are four distinct species of giraffe; Secured 5.2 million acres of new habitat for giraffe in Africa; Moved 102 giraffe into new habitat in 7 translocations; Established 6 new giraffe populations in 3 countries; Moved 69 critically endangered Nubian giraffe in Uganda to secure their future in the wild; Developed successful environmental education programs in Kenya and Namibia and reached over 2,500 children each year in Namibia alone; & Removed over 1,000 snares in Murchison Falls NP, Uganda – 150 of these from animals in the last 12 months.
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