Giraffe

Experimental evidence that effects of megaherbivores on mesoherbivore space use are influenced by species’ traits

1. The extinction of 80% of megaherbivore (>1,000 kg) species towards the end of the Pleistocene altered vegetation structure, fire dynamics and nutrient cycling world-wide. Ecologists have proposed (re)introducing megaherbivores or their ecological analogues to restore lost ecosystem functions and reinforce extant but declining megaherbivore populations. However, the effects of megaherbivores on smaller herbivores are poorly understood. 2. We used long-term exclusion experiments and multispecies hierarchical models fitted to dung counts to test (a) the effect of megaherbivores (elephant and

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Comparative cognition in three understudied ungulate species: European bison, forest buffalos and giraffes

Background: Comparative cognition has historically focused on a few taxa such as primates, birds or rodents. However, a broader perspective is essential to understand how different selective pressures affect cognition in different taxa, as more recently shown in several studies. Here we present the same battery of cognitive tasks to two understudied ungulate species with different socio-ecological characteristics, European bison (Bison bonasus) and forest buffalos (Syncerus caffer nanus), and we compare their performance to previous findings in giraffes (Giraffa camelopardalis).

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Development of an image-based body condition score for giraffes Giraffa camelopardalis and a comparison of zoo-housed and free-ranging individuals

Historically, giraffes (Giraffa spp.) in zoos are known to have a high prevalence of deaths associated with serous fat atrophy, which has been linked to the impression that as browsers, they are more difficult to feed appropriately compared to grazing ruminants. Therefore, one could expect zoo-housed giraffes to be peculiar in that they might have, on average, a lower body condition than their free-ranging conspecifics. We collected photographs of free-ranging and zoo-housed individuals and used information on sex, age, body

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Interaction entre hommes et girafes dans la zone de distribution de la girafe au Niger

Cette étude qui porte sur l’interaction entre hommes et girafes a été menée dans la zone de distribution de la girafe du Niger dénommée « aire girafe ». Elle a concerné douze (12) villages répartis sur les deux (2) foyers de distribution, la zone centrale et la zone de Fandou. Au total, 218 personnes ont été enquêtées et les données comparées entre villages et entre foyers de troupeau de girafes. Les résultats montrent que les dégâts sur les cultures et

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Watching the distinctive rocking gait of a giraffe as it moves placidly from acacia tree to acacia tree while feeding at the end of a long hot African afternoon, head and horns poking out comically from the uppermost branches as it forages deftly and delicately among the razor-sharp thorns with a fat, purple tongue, is something we’ve been lucky enough to enjoy often during our years as professional wildlife photojournalists. You might think such familiarity had made us impervious to

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A Synopsis of the Diseases of Giraffes

This synopsis has been prepared to inform the general public about all of the extremely complex health issues facing both free-ranging and captive Giraffes with the goal in mind of hopefully interesting more people to become involved with Giraffe conservation efforts. Studies of the diseases of captive Giraffes in Zoological Gardens serve to indicate how susceptible Giraffes can be to contracting new diseases in confined mixed animal populations. Most Zoos are generally very stressing to Giraffes. It is extremely heart

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Large herbivore loss has complex effects on mosquito ecology and vector-borne disease risk

Loss of biodiversity can affect transmission of infectious diseases in at least two ways: by altering host and vector abundance or by influencing host and vector behavior. We used a large herbivore exclusion experiment to investigate the effects of wildlife loss on the abundance and feeding behavior of mosquito vectors and to explore consequences for vector-borne disease transmission. Large herbivore loss affected both mosquito abundance and blood-feeding behavior. For Aedes mcintoshi, the dominant mosquito species in our study and a

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Use of Specialized Questioning Techniques to Detect Decline in Giraffe Meat Consumption

Biodiversity conservation depends on influencing human behaviors, but when activities are illegal or otherwise sensitive, actors can be hesitant to admit engagement with illicit behaviors. We applied Specialized Questioning Techniques (SQT) to estimate and compare behavioral prevalence of giraffe meat consumption between direct questioning and two SQTs, Randomized Response Technique (RRT) and Unmatched Count Technique (UCT), from 2017 to 2019. Comparisons between the two samples yielded significant differences across all three methods, with confidence intervals distinctly divergent between years. The

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Herbivore dung stoichiometry drives competition between savanna trees and grasses

The balance between trees and grasses is a key aspect of savanna ecosystem functioning, and so far, believed to be regulated by resource availability, fire frequency and consumption by mammalian herbivores. Herbivores, however, also impact plant communities through the deposition of growth-limiting nutrients in their dung and urine. Little attention has been paid to the fact that savanna herbivores produce dung containing different concentrations of nutrients and it remains unknown what the effect of this variation is on tree-grass interactions.

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Survival of the tallest

The extreme adaptations of the giraffe have fuelled evolutionary hypotheses since the time of Lamarck. In-depth studies of its genomes are now yielding solid answers about its evolution, along with the identifi cation of new species. A better understanding of its biology, including its social behaviour, may help to secure the future of this unique animal.

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