area was host to ancestors of these giraffes as well.
The translocation is not without critics. “If
giraffes are in danger in their present location,
why are their numbers augmenting? It simply
doesn’t make sense,” says Isabelle Ciofolo, an
ethologist who joined the local conservation
efforts in Koure in the mid-1990s. “To the
extent possible, it is best to leave the giraffes
to their own natural tendencies in determining
which habitat is suited to their needs.”
She points out that the giraffes of Niger have
shown they can roam up to 180 miles. “If there is
a menace in one place, they are perfectly capable
of finding a new habitat on their own.”“GOOD GIRL. WHAT A SWEETIE PIE,” Morkel whispers
to himself as he creeps closer to the unsuspectingwell-to-do Niamey residents on day-trips.
There has been a remarkable rewilding of
Africa during the past decade as conservation-
ists have reintroduced long-departed species,
such as Chad’s scimitar-horned oryx, to areas
that once were part of their home ranges. In the
past two years the GCF has orchestrated three
other giraffe translocations, including two inside
Uganda’s Murchison Falls National Park, which
required ferrying animals across the Nile River.
In Niger, an assessment of the country’s poten-
tial habitats determined the safest place to park
a second population of West African giraffes was
on 2.5 million uninhabited acres in Gadabedji, an
area in the center of the country that has been
designated as a biosphere reserve. It’s a hot spot
for vultures and gazelles, and 50 years ago the
100 NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC