The protection of giraffes on the African continent, concluded with a public private partnership between government and the University of the Free State.
The University has officially launched the Giraffe research center at the private game reserve, Amanzi in order to conduct further studies on species that face extinction.
Various studies, including Cop18 in 2019, reported on the monitoring and sound management of the Giraffe populations in many African states, including Angola, Botswana, Eswatini, Malawi, Mozambique, Namibia, South Africa and Zimbabwe.
The aim of the research is to preserve the species for the next generations. Data collected through the research is the first of its kind and UFS is leading the world.
Lead giraffe researcher, Professor Francois Deacon, says the university is working with 64 local and international students, who are taking part in research initiatives into the Giraffe species.
“Giraffe is facing extinction on the continent without people knowing it, we call it the silent extinction and if we don’t tell people about it. They won’t know it. And if I and the team and my colleagues don’t do something about it, who else is going to do it? In sixteen years, we have accomplished a lot, but imagine in the next 16 or 30 years coming. What we can do and what we can achieve together. This is the time, we have to do it now because we are running out of time.”
Part of the research programme is to show the interconnection between humans and animals.
The University’s mentoring programme Head Dr Henriette van den Berg elaborates, “Our researchers at the Free State University understand that we are all interconnected, planet and animals and plants and people. So it’s very important that we actually look at the protection of each of those components of the ecosystem. And the Giraffe research center is a starting point to actually focus on Giraffe research and hope that this can be a blueprint for similar types of studies on other components and members of that broader ecosystem.”
According to the recent 2024 reports, the size of the population of the southern Giraffe across the entire range in Angola, Botswana, Eswatini, Namibia, Botswana, Mozambique, South Africa, Zambia and Zimbabwe is estimated at 68 837 with South Africa’s stronghold population estimated at 30 005.
VIDEO | Free State University launches giraffe research centre
