Lions pose massive threat to giraffes, says research

Researchers are calling for an urgent review into how populations of giraffes are managed in the wild when living alongside lions.

The giraffe population has declined by 40% in the past 30 years, with lions the primary predator to the world’s tallest mammals.

In a first, a study from Bristol University investigated the impact of the presence of lions on giraffe populations in the wild.

It found the number of calves is likely to be reduced up to 82% when lions are kept in the same conservation area as giraffes.

The work, published in the journal PLOS One, examined giraffe populations at two adjacent sites in Kenya – one with no lions and one with a high density of them. In areas with no lions, juvenile giraffes – less than a year old – made up 34% of the population, but made up only 6% in areas with lions.

Zoe Muller, a

PHD student at the university, warned of an “unrecoverable situation” if giraffe calves continued to decline.

She said: “Giraffes are a threatened species, suffering ongoing decline in the wild and this research highlights how managing giraffes alongside lions inside a conservation area – a common practice in Africa – has detrimental effects for giraffe populations.

“The continual loss of juveniles within a population due to lion predation may lead to an unrecoverable situation.”

Picture: PA. Giraffe populations are dropping when they are close to lions, says a study.