World Giraffe Day

By actively celebrating World Giraffe Day, you are helping to save the wild giraffe population. Today, there are about 117,000 giraffes left—an extremely small number, and without support, the number of these beautiful animals will continue to decrease. Governments of different countries, environmental organizations, research centers, zoos, companies, and schools celebrate World Giraffe Day. They hold various events, donate funds, and spread information about how to help giraffes.

History

The Giraffe Conservation Foundation’s annual Save the Giraffe Celebration initiative was launched in 2014. In subsequent years, each holiday was dedicated to solving specific problems aimed at preserving the African giraffe population.

In 2014, the Jeans4Giraffe campaign was held—participants in denim clothes raised funds to support the giraffe population in Namibia. In 2015, the targeted campaign “Operation Twiga” was organized to save a separate species from extinction—the Rothschild giraffe. The Masai giraffe needed support in 2017. In 2019, the holiday was dedicated to the satellite tracking program for giraffes—Twiga Tracker. In 2020, World Giraffe Day was held digitally due to the COVID pandemic, with 2021’s events again organized to spread awareness of the plight of giraffes. In 2022, the focus was on the Mozambique giraffe, of which only 250 remain.

Interesting Facts

To increase the population in Mozambique, 350 individuals will be relocated to four regions of the country: Karingani and Maputo reserves, and Banhine and Zinave national parks.

How to Take Part

How can you celebrate the holiday and help giraffes?

1. Adopt a giraffe on the GCF website (fee: $10 per month or $50 per year) and get access to updated information about its life in the wild.
2. Buy giraffe merchandise from the store on the GCF website.
3. Spread the word about supporting giraffes on social media. Use the hashtag #WorldGiraffeDay.

When is World Giraffe Day in 2024?

World Giraffe Day is observed on June 21 each year.

Observations