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World Giraffe Day: Animal under threat despite population growth

World Giraffe Day: Animal under threat despite population growth

World Giraffe Day is June 21, and the Giraffe Conservation Foundation released its 2025 State of Giraffe report ahead of the celebration.
The report points to better data collection and conservation efforts for an increase in the population in some giraffe species.
"Not only are our conservation efforts paying off, but with the support of our partners, we are getting better at monitoring and protecting these iconic creatures," Stephanie Fennessy, the Foundation's Executive Director, said in a press release accompanying the report.
Giraffes were moved up on the IUCN Red List from Least Concern to Vulnerable in 2016.
Despite the improvements, the Foundation pointed to the report as evidence that the species should be moved higher, saying, "there is now a strong case for listing three of the four species as Endangered or Vulnerable." The Foundation added, "These new trends provide hope – but the threat of silent extinction remains."
Here's what to know about the state of giraffes on World Giraffe Day.
The report states that following species of giraffe have seen either improvement or stability in their population:
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Fact Check: Rare spotless giraffe lives in Tennessee zoo. Reports suggest it's not the only one
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Fact Check: Rare spotless giraffe lives in Tennessee zoo. Reports suggest it's not the only one

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An extremely rare spotless giraffe born yesterday at a Tennessee zoobyu/TheSentinelsSorrow ininterestingasfuck Kipekee is a real spotless giraffe who, as of this writing, lives at Brights Zoo in Tennessee — with "no plans" of moving anywhere else, according to an email from David Bright, the zoo's director. At the time of Kipekee's July 31, 2023, birth, news outlets reported that Brights Zoo may have welcomed the only giraffe without spots alive in the world, as evidenced by Kipekee's name, which means "unique" in Swahili. However, just a month later, another spotless giraffe was … spotted … in Namibia. Given that the August posts accurately described Kipekee's existence and living situation but relied on outdated information about the rarity of the giraffe's coat, we rate this claim a mixture of truth and falsehood. Numerous legitimate news outlets, including NPR and National Geographic, covered Kipekee's birth. Broadcast journalists have filmed Kipekee at the private, family-owned zoo. Furthermore, zoo visitors have posted various images and videos of the giraffe online at different angles, and the dates of these posts range from 2023 to 2025. As such, we are confident that the giraffe exists. Kipekee was reportedly the first known spotless giraffe born since 1972, when one such giraffe was born at Ueno Zoo in Tokyo, according to archival photos. But in September 2023, the Giraffe Conservation Foundation announced that another patternless giraffe was photographed at Mount Etjo Safari Lodge in central Namibia — the first recorded in the wild. The Giraffe Conservation Foundation, which partners with organizations like the Smithsonian Institution, says it is the only nongovernmental organization in the world dedicated solely to the conservation of wild giraffes. The foundation's news release included images of the spotless Namibia giraffe. 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