Good News: We are Ensuring Giraffes are Protected in the Wild

Earlier today, you got to spend some time with the beautiful Masai giraffes that call the Houston Zoo home. In addition to providing the highest quality of care for the giraffes at the Zoo, we also support efforts in Kenya, Africa ensuring that giraffe families are protected in the wild. Every time you came to the Zoo or fed the giraffe you helped us save wild giraffe!

The Houston Zoo provides support for a giraffe protection program in Kenya that protects them hunting and harm and creates healthy and safe habitat for giraffe and other wildlife. One of the most impactful ways we support our partners on the ground in Kenya is through offering opportunities for further training through our Wildlife Warrior Program, which helps to further strengthen their superb wildlife saving skills.

In 2015, the Zoo established the Wildlife Warrior award program. Carefully chosen by the Zoo’s Admissions team, this award recognizes exceptional individuals from our wildlife conservation partner programs and provides them with an experience that will increase their abilities/knowledge and strengthen them as future conservation leaders.

Two of these wildlife warriors are Aden Elmi Ali and Aden Ibrahim:

Aden Ibrahim leads a team of 12 local rangers and encourages youth to join conservation and has recruited a dozen of them so far who would otherwise be vulnerable to drugs, terrorism and poaching. Aden is hopeful about the future where he aims to empower youth and expand safe area for wildlife. Aden Elmi Ali works as a community scout tasked with carrying out wildlife protecting patrols and community education. In the two years that Aden has been with the program, he has shown exemplary skills which helped him quickly rise to a lead scout and field research assistant. He helps the team conduct giraffe and wildlife protection patrols on a daily basis, installing and monitoring camera traps and helping with environmental data collection. He loves nature, the outdoors, and especially the wildlife in the area.

Thanks to the incredible wildlife-saving work of these wildlife warriors and their teams, daily patrols in the field last year resulted in 4 arrests of illegal hunters and the removal of 120 wire traps set out for animals, protecting giraffe and other wildlife.

With our gates still closed, your support is more critical than ever. Support the Zoo’s Emergency Zoo Fund to help us continue our work to connect communities with animals and inspire action to save wildlife.