Sat Dec 14 15:55:00 UTC 2024: ## Giraffes Struggle on Slopes: Study Reveals Habitat Mismatch Hampering Conservation
**JOHANNESBURG, South Africa (December 14, 2024)** – A new study reveals a significant obstacle to giraffe conservation: their inability to navigate steep terrain. Researchers, tracking 33 GPS-collared giraffes across five South African reserves, discovered that giraffes avoid slopes exceeding a 20-degree gradient. This limitation, likely due to energy expenditure and fall risk, severely restricts their access to both protected and unprotected areas.
While giraffes can tolerate inclines up to 12 degrees if the terrain offers sufficient vegetation, the 20-degree threshold significantly impacts their usable habitat. Using this finding, researchers calculated the proportion of unusable habitat in key African giraffe range countries. The alarming result: one-third of these countries have more inaccessible land *within* protected areas than outside.
Giraffes, found across 21 African nations, face declining populations due to habitat loss, poaching, and human-wildlife conflict. Existing conservation efforts, which predominantly consider vegetation, predation, and human activity, overlook the crucial factor of topography. The study highlights the urgent need to incorporate terrain analysis into conservation strategies to ensure the long-term survival of these iconic animals.
First Piper 