Rescuing Giraffes from a Flooded Island

Despite being an icon of the savannas, surprisingly little is known about giraffes. The Explorers Club's latest talk will explore the reasons for giraffes' startling population declines and what is being done to save them. Giraffes on a Raft – The Silent Extinction of Giraffe will begin Monday, December 13, 2021, at 7 pm ET. It will also stream on their Youtube Channel and Facebook Live.

December 13, 2021

By: Discovery and The Explorers Club

Shop This Look

Photo By: Jessica Davis Photography

Photo By: Ami Vitale

Photo By: Tyler Schiffman

Photo By: Ami Vitale

Photo By: Ami Vtale

Over the past 30 years, giraffes have declined by 40%. Three out of the four species are endangered.

The Explorers Club talk will feature a number of expert panelists including Sateesh Venkatesh, a conservation biologist and member of Explorers Club 50.

Sateesh's work focuses on how better knowledge of animal behavior can help mitigate human-wildlife conflict around the world. He has worked with various species, from elephants to jaguars. Currently, his research focuses on investigating the personalities of semi-wild elephants in Myanmar.

Also speaking will be giraffe conservationist, David O'Connor. A Research Associate with the Smithsonian Institute, he has formerly served on the Board of Directors of the Giraffe Conservation Foundation. David’s love for giraffes and wildlife came from growing up in the Irish countryside. He has worked across Europe, Asia, Australia, and Africa on numerous conservation programs with San Diego Zoo Institute for Conservation Research, and others.

The live event will also explore an unusual rescue.

David O’Connor, President of Save Giraffes Now is shown on Longicharo Island, a rocky lava pinnacle, inside western Kenya's Lake Baringo with 8 giraffes that had become stranded there because of flooding.

The giraffes were originally reintroduced to a remote peninsula along Lake Baringo in 2012, in hopes that the isolated location would provide shelter from poaching and increase their population in their native Western Kenyan range. However, the rising lake levels cut the peninsula into an island and trapped them.

The herd includes one male named Lbarnnoti, and seven adult females named Nkarikoni, Nalangu, Awala, Asiwa, and Nasieku; and two juveniles, Susan and Pasaka. Asiwa is isolated on a far part of the island.

The local community is working with conservation organizations to keep them alive. Today, fewer than 3,000 Rothschild's giraffes are left in Africa, with about 800 in Kenya.

Asiwa is moved off the flooded island by a barge on December 2, 2020.