photo by Billy K. Dodson/Giraffe Conservation Foundation
They’re improbably built and impossibly graceful. Watching a giraffe move through the bush in the wild is like watching a boat rock on medium seas. They undulate and roll their way along, each step of their long legs reverberating through the entire body of counter-weighted levers (that neck and those legs require lots of precision balancing). When they break into a run it looks like slow motion, but the steps are so long, they cover great distances very quickly. They are beautiful to watch and gentle as can be.
The Giraffe Conservation Foundation is dedicated to a sustainable future for all species and sub-species of giraffes in the wild. The giraffes indigenous to West Africa, for example, were dwindling in number at an alarming rate–there were only 50 left in the wild in 1996–but through community education and conservation efforts as well as convincing governments that there is value in protection of wildlife, their numbers are bouncing back (there are more than 200 now–still a crazy-low number, but much better than 50).
Education is the key to conservation, and GCF has major initiatives in Botswana, Kenya, and Niger. Scientific research and partnership with local communities is making a difference, and more careful planning with development is beginning to show sensitivity to habitat protection…but the work is only ramping up. For the numbers of any species to get down to mere double digits, like 50, is unforgivable…is there a way you can get involved and support? Find out more here.
Change by Doing 