Giraffe need your help
Calling all volunteers from the African Impact Kruger Projects
Giraffe Project - A message from Polo
Hello volunteers past, present and future,
My real name is Kendra (you'll find out more about that in my blog - out soon) but my nickname is Polo, given to me by volunteers Jo and Liz for the shape made by my ossicones (the tufty 'horns' on top of my head), though some of you may also know me as GF06, and this is my pic from a couple of days before my son Dumble was born - b.Friday 5th Oct 2018. See the blog and video of his birth for more about him and his name. Second pic id Dumble and I pretending to ignore the humans and the rhino!
This message is a plea to help Wendy and the research team so they can help me, my son and all our kind to continue to peacefully roam the plains of Africa.
We really need any photos of the research
giraffe (Buffaloland/Motlala) from the Greater Kruger projects from any
volunteers who have been since January 2016 right through to those who
will come up to December 2019. Many of the photos that were uploaded by
volunteers have unfortunately been lost and many photos went back
home with volunteers who never uploaded them to African Impact
computers.
Wendy says
"Group shots are especially valuable"
So if you have some photos of me or my friends please, please, please dig them out and send them to Wendy. See the various options for that below. It's way too technical for my hooves but you all have thumbs and email so I'm sure it will be a breeze and you could be contributing to publishable research (and she promises acknowledgements).
Some of my cousins are facing what has been dubbed a 'silent extinction' and we all need your help to add to the research that can contribute to the giraffe knowledge base and maybe help to reverse the frightening trend of declining numbers in parts of Africa. Some populations are on the brink of disappearance. It is only recently that researchers have discovered evidence that giraffe are likely four different species and until this decade there was very little research done on us and even less public awareness of the crisis we face. This is changing but so very slowly and some of my cousins may face extinction before humans can gather the data to back up conservation efforts.
Thanks for all your help,
Love and best wishes from
New mum Kendra (Polo, GF06)
Buffaloland
Sending your giraffe pics
Wendy has a dropbox and a google drive - contact her with your email address and she will send you an invite or details so you can upload to either.
If
you only have a few you can simply email them with your full name and
the dates you were with African Impact. Don't forget every pic is valuable, even the ones
of giraffe hiding in the bushes facing in awkward directions, unless it's
blurry, we are pretty good at hiding behind the odd twig. You'd be amazed who Wendy and her wizzy software can identify from abominably difficult pics.
Wendy's Email:
wvthorogood@yahoo.co.uk
You can also get in touch through social media.
Links for Facebook, Twitter and Instagram
Researcher:
Wendy Thorogood
Volunteer Organisation:
African Impact, Dumela Lodge, Guernsey Road, Greater Kruger, South Africa
Partners:
Buffaloland Private Reserve
Giraffe Conservation Foundation
University:
Anglia Ruskin University, East Road, Cambridge, United Kingdom, CB1 2AH