» Listings for June 2022

1. Giraffe conservation in Kenya

   Posted on 11:50am Sunday 19th Jun 2022

   There’s good news for giraffe in Kenya. The Giraffe Conservation Foundation reports that they have made efforts to make sure that giraffe numbers in Kenya receive better protection.  The charity has given financial support to the Kenya Wildlife Service and other conservation partners to undertake aerial surveys in northern Kenya. And good news!  The surveys are showing a 30% increase in reticulated giraffe numbers on communal land and private conservancies in the last 6 years. Meantime, in the south of Kenya, the charity has held the first ever Masai Giraffe Working Group meeting to bring conservation partners together with the Kenya Wildlife Service.  The aim was to identify current threats to Masai giraffe and pinpoint measures to protect them. And there’s more – the charity’s year long surveys in Mwea National Reserve and Ruma National Park show there are double the numbers of Nubian giraffe than previously thought, so this is a great boost to Nubian giraffe there. There are renewed efforts to update and complete a National Recovery and Action Plan for giraffe in Kenya, held over a two day workshop.  The plan will be launched later this year. Don’t forget – a date for your diary – the 21st June is World Giraffe Day.  Why not adopt a giraffe as a gift for someone or for yourself?  Click here for wildlife holiday ideas in Kenya listed on Responsible Travel

    

2. Calling all giraffe lovers around the world – giraffes need your voice!

   Posted on 12:00am Sunday 19th Jun 2022

   Giraffes are in trouble.  The giraffe population is already down between 36 to 40%. For the first time ever, 5 African countries are proposing to add the giraffe to the list of protected species.  This would really make a difference. How you can help giraffes with a click There’s a petition calling on CITES to launch and fund an Africa-wide Giraffe Action Plan.  The Plan would: Recover giraffe populations Protect giraffe habitats Support local communities living alongside giraffes The petition can be found at Avaaz.org.  Avaaz.org is a world-wide community with nearly 50 million members.  It has petitions you can set up and sign to give your support to proposed changes or messages about causes you care about and want to help Please sign this petition to help giraffes today! When you go through to Avaaz and the petition, there’s a picture of someone called Tess and a dead giraffe, just to warn you.  Avaaz say that Tess killed the giraffe for fun. She's certainly got a big smile on her face. There are no words to describe how I feel about people who do this. Why this petition to help giraffes now? Very shortly, countries from across the world will meet for a crucial global wildlife summit. Back in January 2019, 57 proposals to amend the list of species subject to CITES regulations were submitted by 90 countries for consideration.   This consideration will take place from 23 May to 3 June 2019 in Colombo, Sri Lanka, at the 18th Meeting of the Conference of the Parties to the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora. (I can’t help feeling that if they spent less time making up titles like that, and more on protecting wildlife, we might make more progress.) So how could this CITES meeting affect giraffes? For the first time ever, five African countries have proposed adding giraffes to the list of protected species. You can see the species here that the meeting will consider, and find out about the proposal to protect giraffes here Sign the Petition at Avaaz.org now, Then please share the petition widely to help make the senseless killing of this giraffe into a new direction for giraffes.