Wildlife Selfie Code
Many people offering wildlife selfies in the Amazon search treetops for sloths to steal. Don’t be part of this ugly picture: make sure your wildlife selfies are cruelty-free.
Animal Awareness Days
Giraffes are social and intelligent creatures. Towering above the African savannah, they are one of the most recognisable animals on the planet.
Celebrate World Giraffe Day with us by learning more about the world’s tallest land animal.
World Giraffe Day (also known as International Giraffe Day) is held on June 21st every year. This date was chosen because it felt fitting to celebrate the world’s tallest animal on the longest day of the year.
World Giraffe Day is an opportunity to celebrate these incredible creatures' beauty, intelligence, and uniqueness. It’s also a great time to learn about the threats giraffes face — and try to do something about them.
Giraffes are threatened by illegal poaching and trophy hunting. They are also exploited in faux sanctuaries, kept for the entertainment of tourists rather than their well-being.
Giraffes are listed as vulnerable on the IUCN Red List, and their population is decreasing. They face a high risk of extinction in the wild. Here are some of the threats that giraffes are facing.
Animals — including giraffes — are deliberately killed for sport. Hunters pay a fee and are allowed to hunt these wild animals, returning home with animal body parts that they can put on display.
Giraffes are kept in zoos, amusement parks, and “giraffe ranches” across the world. Unlike a real animal sanctuary, these places are run for profit, with giraffes exploited to attract customers. In these environments, giraffes are stressed and unable to engage in their usual social behaviours. They are used for tourist selfies and cruel animal feeding experiences.
Climate change increases the risk of wildfires, loss of habitat, and human population movement. This means less space for giraffes to roam, find food, and find a mate. As a key driver of climate change, factory farming indirectly impacts giraffe survival.
You can celebrate World Giraffe Day by taking action to protect giraffes and their habitats. Here’s what you can do:
Many animals need your help. Find out about other animal awareness days.
Giraffes are herbivores. They eat shoots and leaves and particularly like the thorny acacia tree. A male giraffe can eat 65 kilograms of food in a single day.
Giraffe height can be more than 5.5 metres. Even baby giraffes are tall. A newborn giraffe is 2 metres tall.
Giraffes sleep for just 4 hours every 24 hours. They tend to doze for short bursts of 5 to 30 minutes.
In the wild, giraffes live to around 26 years old. They can live longer in captivity, due to the lack of predators, but have a much lower quality of life. In zoos and similar settings, giraffes can suffer from limited space, hard flooring that causes joint problems, and stress from confinement and frequent human interaction
Giraffes have incredibly long tongues that measure up to 50 centimetres. They extend their long tongues to grab food from trees.
Both male and female giraffes have a pair of horns. Male giraffe horns tend to be more pronounced. Males use their horns and powerful necks to fight one another when competing for dominance and mating rights.
Many people offering wildlife selfies in the Amazon search treetops for sloths to steal. Don’t be part of this ugly picture: make sure your wildlife selfies are cruelty-free.
Your post can make a difference; call out the travel companies still failing wildlife
Heritage Sites
A global programme recognising responsible wildlife-watching destinations that incorporate high standards of animal welfare and biodiversity conservation