Namibia: High Hopes for Giraffe Indaba

The world's first international scientific conference on Africa's tallest animal, the giraffe, kicked off at Etosha this week.

The International Giraffe Indaba, subtitled 'Giraffe - the Forgotten Megafauna', opened on Monday at the Etosha Safari Lodge, close to the entrance of the Etosha National Park.

Hosted by the Namibia Nature Foundation (NNF), the indaba aims to bring together top international scientists involved in giraffe research and conservation globally.

According to scientists, giraffe numbers are plummeting across Africa, and two of the nine different giraffe subspecies, the West African giraffe and Rothschild's giraffe, are listed as endangered, with another giraffe species close on their heels.

Namibia was selected as an ideal host country for the landmark conference, partly because Namibian giraffe species prove the exception to the rule, their populations safe from declining trends.

Dr Julian Fennessy, director of the NNF and a key driver of the indaba, said the meeting "promises to be an extraordinary week for sharing leading-edge research and for putting some of the finest scientific minds together to discuss innovative giraffe conservation strategies and their future implementation."

The chairman of the Giraffe Conservation Foundation (GCF), Greg Edwards, said that "with issues such as habitat destruction and giraffe being used for bush meat in troubled areas, giraffe certainly need friends in high places".

Mary Rice, a GCF trustee, added that "the work being done now is vital to prevent further decline of this unique and beautiful African mammal, so recognised and loved the world over and yet only in the last few years championed by the world of the GCF."

She warned that the "key to success is putting working strategies in place before it is too late which will be the prime aim of all attendees at this ground-breaking event".