Wild Corridor

The Masai Thornicroft’s giraffe is a unique type of giraffe found only in Zambia, nowhere else. These giraffe are an isolated population of the endangered Masai giraffe species which is found mainly in Tanzania and southern Kenya. In fact, this is the only type of Masai Giraffe found outside of Kenya and Tanzania. Overall, the Masai giraffe numbers have declined drastically by over 50% in just the last 30 years. In 2019, with just 35,000 left in the wild, they were officially listed as Endangered.

These rare Masai Thornicroft giraffe are an isolated population of about 600 giraffe, until recently all in the South Luangwa National Park area. Interestingly, these giraffe have recently started venturing into Luambe National Park, one of their historic homes. This natural expansion to Luambe has opened up the opportunity to further expand their range into the contiguous, and huge, Lukusuzi National Park.

We at SGN partnered with IFAW (International Fund for Animal Welfare) and the local communities on a project to create a secure wildlife corridor that will allow the giraffe that are currently in a relatively limited area to have access to over 735,000 acres of new savanna habitat they could not previously access. Eventually these giraffe should be able to freely transit to the even wider expanse of the 8 million acre Malawi-Zambia Conservation Area. Additionally, this project created and gives ongoing support to teams of community-led scouts and anti-poaching rangers who protect giraffe and other wildlife while also bringing additional stability to the region.

Community scouts and rangers have been hired from the local community in efforts to help protect and support the returning wildlife. Working with the community to create sustainable opportunities around the giraffe and other wildlife through lease and concession fees, this project also supports future eco-tourism and development of other community businesses.