Giraffe-Themed Conservation Education in Tarangire Wildlife Clubs

Wildlife Clubs around Tarangire recently had a lesson about Giraffes, the national animal of Tanzania, using the giraffe-themed environmental education materials developed by Wild Nature Institute and PAMS Foundation. These high school students appreciate that wildlife conservation is important to Tanzania's ecology, economy, and culture. Giraffes are becoming endangered throughout Africa, the only continent where they live, due to habitat loss and illegal killing called poaching. Wildlife-based tourism is the largest sector in Tanzania's economy and as a result, Tanzania has 32% of it's land in protected areas. The students are participating in Wildlife Clubs as an extra-curricular activity because they want to learn more. The core of our giraffe-themed conservation education project is Juma the Giraffe, and we developed some great teaching resources to go along with the book. We also printed an awesome poster explaining how wonderfully weird giraffes are that was designed by David Brown and Chris Barela.  Wild Nature Institute's giraffe research is helping current and future conservationists like these students to understand how people and giraffes can live together for the benefit of all.