The West African giraffe (''Giraffa camelopardalis peralta''), Niger giraffe or Nigerien giraffe is a

subspecies In biological classification, subspecies is a rank below species, used for populations that live in different areas and vary in size, shape, or other physical characteristics (morphology), but that can successfully interbreed. Not all species ...

of the

giraffe The giraffe is a large African hoofed mammal belonging to the genus ''Giraffa''. It is the tallest living terrestrial animal and the largest ruminant on Earth. Traditionally, giraffes were thought to be one species, ''Giraffa camelopardalis ...

distinguished by its light colored spots. It is found in the

Sahel The Sahel (; ar, ساحل ' , "coast, shore") is a region in North Africa. It is defined as the ecoclimatic and biogeographic realm of transition between the Sahara to the north and the Sudanian savanna to the south. Having a hot semi-arid c ...

West Africa West Africa or Western Africa is the westernmost region of Africa. The United Nations defines Western Africa as the 16 countries of Benin, Burkina Faso, Cape Verde, The Gambia, Ghana, Guinea, Guinea-Bissau, Ivory Coast, Liberia, Mali, Maurit ...

. In the 19th century it ranged from

Senegal Senegal,; Wolof: ''Senegaal''; Pulaar: 𞤅𞤫𞤲𞤫𞤺𞤢𞥄𞤤𞤭 (Senegaali); Arabic: السنغال ''As-Sinighal'') officially the Republic of Senegal,; Wolof: ''Réewum Senegaal''; Pulaar : 𞤈𞤫𞤲𞤣𞤢𞥄𞤲𞤣𞤭 � ...

Lake Chad Lake Chad (french: Lac Tchad) is a historically large, shallow, endorheic lake in Central Africa, which has varied in size over the centuries. According to the ''Global Resource Information Database'' of the United Nations Environment Programme, ...

, yet in 2011 this subspecies only survives in a few isolated pockets containing about 400 individuals in total. Its last self-sustaining herd is in southwest

Niger ) , official_languages = , languages_type = National languagesDosso Region and the tourist center at Kouré, some 80 km southeast of Niamey.Niger : la population des girafes augmente de 24% en 2011 (officiel)
Xinhua, 2012-03-01. All captive so-called "West African giraffe" are now known to be the Kordofan giraffe (''G. c. antiquorum'').

Evolutionary history

Older studies on giraffe subspecies have caused some researchers to question the separate status of ''G. c. peralta'' and the Kordofan giraffe (''G. c. antiquorum''). Genetic testing published in 2007 confirmed the distinctiveness of the West African giraffe. Most captive giraffes from northwestern Africa are in French zoological parks, a result of the French colonies in

. Those giraffes were formerly treated as ''G. c. peralta''. However, since genetic analysis revealed that only giraffes to the west of

belong to this subspecies, the populations in European zoos are in fact Kordofan giraffes (''G. c. antiquorum''). The West African giraffe is more closely related to the giraffes of East Africa than to those of Central Africa. Its ancestor may have migrated from East to North Africa during the

Quaternary The Quaternary ( ) is the current and most recent of the three periods of the Cenozoic Era in the geologic time scale of the International Commission on Stratigraphy (ICS). It follows the Neogene Period and spans from 2.58 million years ...

and then to West Africa with the development of the Sahara desert. At its largest, Lake Chad may have acted as a barrier between West African and Kordofan giraffes during the

Holocene The Holocene ( ) is the current geological epoch. It began approximately 11,650 cal years Before Present (), after the Last Glacial Period, which concluded with the Holocene glacial retreat. The Holocene and the preceding Pleistocene togethe ...

Distribution and habitat

The Nigerien giraffe population relies upon seasonal migration between the relatively drought-resistant lowlands of the

Niger River The Niger River ( ; ) is the main river of West Africa, extending about . Its drainage basin is in area. Its source is in the Guinea Highlands in south-eastern Guinea near the Sierra Leone border. It runs in a crescent shape through ...

valley and the drier highlands near Kouré. In this area,

Tiger bush Tiger bush, or brousse tigrée in the French language, is a patterned vegetation community and ground consisting of alternating bands of trees, shrubs, or grass separated by bare ground or low herb cover, that run roughly parallel to contour ...

habitat allows bands of trees to thrive in climates which might otherwise become more typical desert.

Former range

Before

World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

, at the time of European colonial administrations, West African giraffe lived in pockets across the

and

savanna A savanna or savannah is a mixed woodland-grassland (i.e. grassy woodland) ecosystem characterised by the trees being sufficiently widely spaced so that the canopy does not close. The open canopy allows sufficient light to reach the ground to ...

regions of

. Population growth, involving more intensive farming and hunting, a series of droughts since the late 19th century, and environment destruction (both natural and human made) have all contributed to their dramatic decline. As late as the 1960s, prior to the

Sahel drought The Sahel region of Africa has long experienced a series of historic droughts, dating back to at least the 17th century. The Sahel region is a climate zone sandwiched between the Sudanian Savanna to the south and the Sahara desert to the north, ...

that lasted into the early 1980s, populations identified as ''G. c. peralta'' existed in Senegal, Niger, eastern

Mali Mali (; ), officially the Republic of Mali,, , ff, 𞤈𞤫𞤲𞥆𞤣𞤢𞥄𞤲𞤣𞤭 𞤃𞤢𞥄𞤤𞤭, Renndaandi Maali, italics=no, ar, جمهورية مالي, Jumhūriyyāt Mālī is a landlocked country in West Africa. Mali ...

, northern

Benin Benin ( , ; french: Bénin , ff, Benen), officially the Republic of Benin (french: République du Bénin), and formerly Dahomey, is a country in West Africa. It is bordered by Togo to the west, Nigeria to the east, Burkina Faso to the north ...

, northern

Nigeria Nigeria ( ), , ig, Naìjíríyà, yo, Nàìjíríà, pcm, Naijá , ff, Naajeeriya, kcg, Naijeriya officially the Federal Republic of Nigeria, is a country in West Africa. It is situated between the Sahel to the north and the Gulf o ...

, southwest

Chad Chad (; ar, تشاد , ; french: Tchad, ), officially the Republic of Chad, '; ) is a landlocked country at the crossroads of North and Central Africa. It is bordered by Libya to the north, Sudan to the east, the Central African Republic ...

and northern

Cameroon Cameroon (; french: Cameroun, ff, Kamerun), officially the Republic of Cameroon (french: République du Cameroun, links=no), is a country in west-central Africa. It is bordered by Nigeria to the west and north; Chad to the northeast; the C ...

. However, recent genetic research has shown that the populations from northern Cameroon and southern Chad actually are the Kordofan giraffe (''G. c. antiquorum''). Therefore, the giraffes that remain in

Waza National Park Waza National Park is a national park in the Department of Logone-et-Chari, in Far North Region, Cameroon. It was founded in 1934 as a hunting reserve, and covers a total of . Waza achieved national park status in 1968, and became a UNESCO biosp ...

(Cameroon) belong to the Kordofan giraffe, while the only remaining viable population of the West African giraffe is in Niger. In Niger, herds have been reported from the

Agadez Region Agadez Region is one of the seven regions of Niger. At , it covers more than half of Niger's land area, and is the largest region in the country, as well as the largest African state subdivision. The capital of the department is Agadez. Histo ...

and across the west and south of the country. Herds regularly traveled into the Gao Region of Mali as well and throughout the

valley of Niger. Drought struck again in the 1980s and 1990s, and in 1991 there were less than 100 in the nation, with the largest herd in the western Dosso Region numbering less than 50 and scattered individuals along the Niger River valley moving from Benin to Mali and clinging on in the

W National Park The W National Park (french: Parc national du W) or W Regional Park (french: W du Niger, links=no) is a major national park in West Africa around a meander in the River Niger shaped like the letter W (french: double v, links=no). The park includ ...

and nearby reserves.

Ecology and behaviour

The West African giraffe survive primarily on a diet of leaves from ''

Acacia albida ''Faidherbia'' is a genus of leguminous plants containing one species, ''Faidherbia albida'', which was formerly widely included in the genus ''Acacia'' as ''Acacia albida''. The species is native to Africa and the Middle East and has also been ...

'' and ''

Hyphaene thebaica ''Hyphaene thebaica'', with common names doum palm (Ar: دوم) and gingerbread tree (also mistakenly doom palm), is a type of palm tree with edible oval fruit. It is a native to the Arabian Peninsula and also to the northern half and western pa ...

'', as well as ''

Annona senegalensis ''Annona senegalensis'', commonly known as African custard-apple, wild custard apple, wild soursop, (Mandinka language), and (Wolof language) is a species of flowering plant in the custard apple family, Annonaceae. The specific epithet, ''seneg ...

'', '' Parinari macrophylla'', ''

Piliostigma reticulatum ''Piliostigma reticulatum'' is a legume in the Cercidoideae subfamily. It occurs throughout western tropical Africa to Ethiopia. The species has been shown to be useful as an intercrop for crops such as millet in the Sahel. Description A pere ...

'', and '' Balanites aegyptiaca''. In the late 1990s, an anti-

desertification Desertification is a type of land degradation in drylands in which biological productivity is lost due to natural processes or induced by human activities whereby fertile areas become increasingly arid. It is the spread of arid areas caused by ...

project for the area around Niamey encouraged the development of woodcutting businesses. An unintended effect of this was the destruction of much tiger bush and giraffe habitat within the region. The Nigerien government has since moved to limit woodcutting in the area.

Conservation

In the mid-1990s there were only 49 in the whole of

. These giraffes were formally protected by the Niger government and have now risen to 600. Conservation efforts since the 1990s have led to a sizable growth in population, though largely limited to the single Dosso herd. From a low of 50 individuals, in 2007 the herd had grown to some 175 wild individuals, 250 in 2010, and 310 in the Nigerien government's 2011 count. There were about 400 to 450 wild individuals as of 2016. Intensive efforts have been made within Niger, especially in the area just north of the Dosso Partial Faunal Reserve. From there, the largest existing herd migrates seasonally to the drier highlands along the

Dallol Bosso The Dallol Bosso ( Zarma: Boboye) is one of two major seasonal river valleys in southwest Niger. The Dallol Bosso valley runs from the Azawagh area in the Sahara west and south through the Dosso Region where it reaches the Niger River valley. Hu ...

valley, as far north as Kouré, some 80 km southeast of Niamey. This area, though under little formal regulation, is the centre for Nigerien and international efforts to maintain habitat, smooth relations between the herd and area farmers, and provide opportunities for tourism, organised by the

Association to Safeguard Giraffes in Niger The Association to Safeguard Giraffes in Niger (ASGN, L'Association de sauvegarde des girafes du Niger) is an organization formed to help the giraffes of Niger, including ensuring the preservation of their habitat in the face of devastating agricu ...

References

External links

* *
West African Giraffe Photos & facts
on African Wildlife Foundation's website {{Taxonbar, from=Q781652

West African giraffe The West African giraffe (''Giraffa camelopardalis peralta''), Niger giraffe or Nigerien giraffe is a subspecies of the giraffe distinguished by its light colored spots. It is found in the Sahel of West Africa. In the 19th century it ranged fr ...

Fauna of Benin Fauna of Burkina Faso Fauna of Mali Fauna of Niger Mammals of West Africa