The vast savannahs and striking mountainous terrain of Kidepo Valley National Park (NP) in north-eastern Uganda provide a stunning backdrop for an historically significant population of Nubian giraffe (Giraffa camelopardalis camelopardalis). Nubian giraffe are one of the Critically Endangered sub-species of Northern Giraffe.
This rugged landscape is home to one of only two remaining naturally occurring populations of giraffe in Uganda.
This area was once a stronghold for giraffe but due to poaching and civil unrest during the 70s and 80s in particular, the species was left teetering on the brink of local extinction.
By the 1990s, only three giraffe remained in Kidepo.
For some species including rhino, roan and wild dog it was too late to do anything – they were already locally extinct. For giraffe – there was a still a chance.
In a daring mission to preserve the Nubian giraffe of Kidepo, the Uganda Wildlife Authority teamed up with the Kenya Wildlife Service. In 1997 they moved three giraffe – one male and two females – from Lake Nakuru in Kenya, to Kidepo in Uganda, doubling Kidepo’s giraffe population to six.
The giraffe were moved in a C-130 aircraft. One of the young females making the long journey was named Maggie.
Images courtesy of Giraffe Conservation Foundation – 1997 Giraffe Translocation
Giraffe Conservation Foundation conducted the first photographic survey in Kidepo nearly twenty years later, in 2015/16.
By studying the spot patterns of the giraffe they photographed they were able to identify one of the females as Maggie.
There was even better news last year when GCF returned to Kidepo for its annual survey. Maggie, at the ripe old age of 25 years+, was still roaming the savannah.
She was not alone! Behind her trailed a tiny calf, making Maggie one of the oldest-known giraffe to have given birth in the wild.
From three giraffe in 1993, to over 60 in Kidepo in 2023, Maggie has played an incredibly important role.
There are stories of restoration all over Africa from Majete in Malawi, and Akagera in Rwanda to Kidepo in Uganda. These conservation successes, where species have been re-introduced or small populations have been protected, are a great source of hope.
Explorers Against Extinction partnered with GCF to support the translocation of giraffe from Murchison Falls to Pian Upe in Uganda in 2019. We partnered with them again in 2021 to support their work in Niger and this year we will support GCF’s new education centre in Namibia.
All images courtesy of Giraffe Conservation Foundation
