Wild Nature Institute
  • Science
    • Giraffe
    • TUNGO
    • Spotted Owl
  • Education
    • Environmental Education
    • Snag Forest
    • Forest Fire Truths
  • Action
    • Save The Giraffe
    • Corridor Campaign
    • Snag Forest
    • Forests For Everyone
  • Donate
    • Ways To Give
    • Purchase NFT
    • Adopt A Baby Giraffe
  • Blog
  • About Us
    • Monica
    • Derek
    • James
    • Veila
    • Patrick
    • Thomas
    • Emmanuel
    • Aldo
    • Herman
    • Our International Team
    • Our Partners
Updates From the Field and News From Wild Nature

Let's Celebrate World Giraffe Week: June 19-23 2023

6/18/2023

0 Comments

 
Picture
visit: www.worldgiraffeweek.org/
0 Comments

Climate Change: Rising Rainfall, not Temperatures, Threaten Giraffe Survival

6/15/2023

0 Comments

 
Picture
Giraffes in the East African savannas are adapting surprisingly well to the rising temperatures caused by climate change. However, they are threatened by increasingly heavy rainfall, as researchers from the Wild Nature Institute, University of Zurich and Pennsylvania State University show.
 
Climate change is expected to cause widespread declines in wildlife populations worldwide. Yet, little was previously known about the combined climate and human effects on the survival rates not only of giraffes, but of any large African herbivore species. Now researchers from the University of Zurich and Pennsylvania State University have concluded a decade-long study – the largest to date – of a giraffe population in the Tarangire region of Tanzania. The study area spanned more than a thousand square kilometers, including areas inside and outside protected areas. Contrary to expectations, higher temperatures were found to positively affect adult giraffe survival, while rainier wet seasons negatively impacted adult and calf survival.
 
First exploration into the effects of climate variation on giraffe survival
Led by Monica Bond, a postdoctoral research associate in the Department of Evolutionary Biology and Environmental Studies at the University of Zurich and co-founder of Wild Nature Institute, the research team quantified the effects of local anomalies of temperature, rainfall, and vegetation greenness on the probability of survival of the giraffes. They also explored whether climate had a greater effect on giraffes that were also experiencing human impacts at the edges of the protected reserves.
“Studying the effects of climate and human pressures on a long-lived and slow-breeding animal like a giraffe requires monitoring their populations over a lengthy time period and over a large area, enough to capture both climate variation and any immediate or delayed effects on survival,” said Bond. The team obtained nearly two decades of data on local rainfall, vegetation greenness, and temperature during Tanzania’s short rains, long rains, and dry season, and then followed the fates of 2,385 individually recognized giraffes of all ages and sexes over the final 8 years of the two-decade period.
 
Surprising effects of temperature on giraffe survival
The team had predicted that higher temperatures would hurt adult giraffes because their very large body size might make them overheat, but higher temperatures positively affected adult giraffe survival. “The giraffe has several physical features that help it to keep cool, like long necks and legs for evaporative heat loss, specialized nasal cavities, an intricate network of arteries that supply blood to the brain, and they radiate heat through their spot patches,” noted Derek Lee, associate research professor of biology at Pennsylvania State University, co-founder of Wild Nature Institute, and senior author of the study.
However, Lee also pointed out that “temperatures during our study period may not have exceeded the tolerable thermal range for giraffes, and an extreme heat wave in the future might reveal a threshold above which these massive animals might be harmed.”
 
Heavy rains may increase parasites while reducing nutritional value of vegetation
Survival of giraffe adults and calves was reduced during rainier wet seasons, which the researchers attributed to a possible increase in parasites and disease. A previous study in the Tarangire region showed giraffe gastrointestinal parasite intensity was higher during the rainy seasons than the dry season, and heavy flooding has caused severe outbreaks of diseases known to cause mortality in giraffes, such as Rift Valley Fever Virus and anthrax. The current study also found higher vegetation greenness reduced adult giraffe survival, potentially because faster leaf growth reduces nutrient quality in giraffe food.
 
Human pressure place additional stress on already declining populations
Climate effects were exacerbated by the giraffe’s proximity to the edge of protected reserves, but not during every season. “Our findings indicate that giraffes living near the peripheries of the protected areas are most vulnerable during heavy short rains. These conditions likely heighten disease risks associated with livestock, and muddy terrain hampers anti-poaching patrols, leading to increased threats to giraffe survival,” said Arpat Ozgul, University of Zurich professor and study author.
The team concluded that projected climate changes in East Africa, including heavier rainfall during the short rains, will likely threaten persistence of giraffes in one of Earth’s most important landscapes for large mammals, indicating the need for effective land-use planning and anti-poaching to improve giraffes’ resilience to the coming changes.
download the study here
0 Comments
    Science News and Updates From the Field from Wild Nature Institute.

    Follow @WildNatureInst

    RSS Feed


    If You Love Us,
    Make A Donation!

    All Photos on This Blog are Available as Frame-worthy Prints to Thank Our Generous Donors.
    Email Us for Details of this Offer.

    Archives

    May 2025
    February 2025
    November 2024
    October 2024
    August 2024
    July 2024
    June 2024
    April 2024
    March 2024
    January 2024
    November 2023
    October 2023
    September 2023
    July 2023
    June 2023
    January 2023
    September 2022
    August 2022
    June 2022
    May 2022
    March 2022
    January 2022
    December 2021
    November 2021
    September 2021
    June 2021
    April 2021
    March 2021
    February 2021
    January 2021
    December 2020
    August 2020
    July 2020
    June 2020
    May 2020
    April 2020
    March 2020
    January 2020
    December 2019
    October 2019
    September 2019
    August 2019
    June 2019
    May 2019
    April 2019
    March 2019
    February 2019
    January 2019
    November 2018
    October 2018
    September 2018
    August 2018
    July 2018
    June 2018
    April 2018
    February 2018
    January 2018
    December 2017
    November 2017
    October 2017
    September 2017
    August 2017
    June 2017
    May 2017
    April 2017
    March 2017
    February 2017
    January 2017
    December 2016
    November 2016
    October 2016
    September 2016
    August 2016
    July 2016
    June 2016
    May 2016
    April 2016
    March 2016
    February 2016
    January 2016
    December 2015
    November 2015
    October 2015
    September 2015
    August 2015
    July 2015
    June 2015
    May 2015
    April 2015
    February 2015
    January 2015
    December 2014
    November 2014
    September 2014
    August 2014
    July 2014
    June 2014
    May 2014
    April 2014
    March 2014
    February 2014
    January 2014
    December 2013
    November 2013
    October 2013
    September 2013
    August 2013
    July 2013
    June 2013
    May 2013
    April 2013
    March 2013
    February 2013
    January 2013
    December 2012
    November 2012
    October 2012
    September 2012
    August 2012
    July 2012
    June 2012
    May 2012
    April 2012
    March 2012
    February 2012
    January 2012
    November 2011
    October 2011
    September 2011
    August 2011
    July 2011
    June 2011
    May 2011
    April 2011
    January 2011

Home
About Us
   Monica Bond
   Derek Lee
   James Madeli
   Veila Makundi
   Patrick Ismail
   Thomas Laizer
    Emmanuel Kimaro
Our Tanzanian Partners
Our International Team

Science
   Giraffe
   TUNGO
   Spotted Owl
Education
   Environmental Education
   Juma The Giraffe
   Celebrating Africa's Giants
   Sinema Leo Video Children's Books
   Snag Forest
   Forest Fire Truths

Action
   Save The Giraffe
   Corridor Campaign
   Snag Forests
   Forests For Everyone
Donate
   Ways To Give
   Purchase NFT
   Adopt A Baby Giraffe


Wild Nature Institute Logo
Mailing Address:
Wild Nature Institute
PO Box 44
Weaverville, NC 28787

Phone: +1 415 763 0348
Email: [email protected]

The Wild Nature Institute is a New Hampshire non-profit corporation and a 501(c)3 tax-exempt organization.
© Copyright 2010. All Rights Reserved.
View Wild Nature Institute's Privacy Policy
  • Science
    • Giraffe
    • TUNGO
    • Spotted Owl
  • Education
    • Environmental Education
    • Snag Forest
    • Forest Fire Truths
  • Action
    • Save The Giraffe
    • Corridor Campaign
    • Snag Forest
    • Forests For Everyone
  • Donate
    • Ways To Give
    • Purchase NFT
    • Adopt A Baby Giraffe
  • Blog
  • About Us
    • Monica
    • Derek
    • James
    • Veila
    • Patrick
    • Thomas
    • Emmanuel
    • Aldo
    • Herman
    • Our International Team
    • Our Partners