World Giraffe Day

Celebrating World Giraffe Day – June 21, 2022: World Giraffe Day is a special day – not only for the world to celebrate these unusual creatures but it is also a day dedicated to raise support, create awareness on the challenges faced by giraffes in their environment. Any contribution rendered towards World Giraffe Day, plays significant part in saving Africa’s giraffes in entirely.

World Giraffe Day is an initiative of Giraffe Conservation Foundation (GCF). This was created primarily to assist raise awareness to the world about giraffe conservation and protection. Giraffes were listed as threatened species by IUCN in 2016 changing their status from vulnerable species). The giraffe population in Africa continues to decrease with estimated drop of about 30% for the past 3 decades.

Giraffes are useful creatures and their extinction may mean a huge loss in wildlife conservation and tourism in Africa. The first ever World Giraffe Day was celebrated in June 21 2014. Through partnerships, the Giraffe Conservation Fund has and still committed to ensuring safety of these special creatures in the wild. Different activities, events etc are usually organized worldwide and they are directed towards facilitating giraffe conservation and protection in the wild.

Key locations to see giraffes in the wild in Uganda?

The key locations to see giraffes in the wild on Uganda safari: are Murchison Falls National Park, Pian-Upe Wildlife Reserve, Lake Mburo National Park and Kidepo Valley National Park. Murchison Falls National Park hosts about 1500 Rothschild giraffes and they are among the interesting sightings on a guided game drive.

Kidepo Valley National Park

Located in North-eastern Uganda, Kidepo Valley National Park is one of the best places to see giraffes in their natural habitat. As of 1990, Kidepo Valley National Park’s giraffe population drastically reduced to about 3 individuals. Their population increased to 36 individuals in 2018 and 14 more were translocated from Murchison Falls National Park in August 2018.

Pian-Upe Wildlife Reserve and Lake Mburo National Park are the other areas where giraffes can be spotted in the wild. Pian-Upe is in the northeast and Lake Mburo NP lies in Western Uganda.

Description of giraffes

Giraffes are amazingly the tallest mammals in the world, thanks to their long legs and necks. Their legs stretch 6 feet longer than that of humans and they are capable of running 35 miles per hour over short distances and 10 miles per hour for long distances.

Giraffes are often mistaken as cross-breed between a camel and leopard. They are unique and a few awkward-looking species. In Uganda, there are mainly Rothchild giraffes formerly referred to as Nubian giraffes. This is one of the most endangered species of giraffes on earth.

Male giraffe grows tall and can stand about 5.7m – height from the ground to the horns. The shoulders can be 3.3m and neck length 2.4m while females grow 0.7-1m a bit shorter than males. In terms of weight, bulls/male giraffes weigh 1930kgs and females 1180kgs and during birth, a calf can be 2m tall from the ground and weigh about 50-55kgs.

Feeding habits- giraffes depend on leaves, seedpods, flowers and fruits. They concentrate in the savanna areas with salty/full of minerals. They feed on leaves from acacia trees and in a day, a mature male giraffe can eat about 66kgs of food.