Sophie La Girafe® & GCF Giraffe Conservation Foundation

Who is GCF...

The Giraffe Conservation Foundation (GCF) is the only organisation in the world that concentrates solely on the conservation and management of giraffes in the wild throughout Africa.

Founded by Dr Julian Fennessy and his wife Stephanie, both passionate about giraffes, they have successfully established the first giraffe conservation charity in the world. GCF currently works on, manages and supports giraffe conservation initiatives that concern all four species of giraffe in 16 African countries.

As a small yet impactful organisation, working with partners is at the core of GCF’s values and operational model. Their work has an impact on over 171,000 sqkm (42 million acres) of giraffe habitat. GCF is dedicated to a sustainable future for all giraffes populations in the wild.

What's going on with giraffes in Africa...

Giraffe and other wildlife continue to face immense pressures throughout the entire African continent.

In the last 30 years, giraffes populations throughout Africa have declined by approximately 30% and we estimate that there are only 111,000 giraffes remaining in the wild today. To put this into perspective, this means that there is only ONE giraffe for every FOUR African elephant.

Giraffes numbers and distribution are affected by habitat fragmentation, habitat degradation and habitat loss, disease, illegal hunting (poaching), the growth and expansion of the human population, wars, and civil unrest.

GCF is working hard to arrest this silent decline while at the same time drawing attention to the plight of giraffe in Africa.

What we can do...

Giraffe conservation translocations are an important conservation action to increase giraffe range and their habitat in Africa.
Such initiatives are meant to bolster existing small giraffes populations or to allow the re-introduction of giraffes into areas with low numbers or where they have gone locally extinct.

Giraffe range has declined by almost 90% in the last 300 years and this trend continues, which is why GCF has supported the successful translocation of over 155 giraffe, which has effectively increased giraffe habitat in Africa by over 26,000 sqkm (6.5 million acres).