Uganda Moves 12 Endangered Giraffes 65 Miles to Keep Them Safe From Oil Drilling

Uganda Wildlife Authority rangers spent several days in July relocating 12 endangered Nubian giraffes roughly 65 miles from Murchison Falls National Park to Ajai Wildlife Reserve, part of an effort to protect the species as oil drilling expands inside the park.

An estimated 40% of Uganda's oil deposits sit within Murchison Falls, and TotalEnergies began drilling its Tilenga project there in June 2023, bringing heavy machinery and industrial activity into the park. "Having a seed somewhere about 100km away from here within the same conservation area is the right conservation decision," said Patrick Atimnedi, the Uganda Wildlife Authority's assistant commissioner of veterinary services. "You don't want to have all your eggs in one place because if a calamity happens there, then you lose a species."

Rangers and veterinarians darted the giraffes to sedate them, then covered their eyes with cloth and loaded them onto trailers for the roughly two-day journey to their new 166-square-kilometer home. Ajai Wildlife Reserve, established in 1937, had its own giraffe population wiped out by poaching decades ago; part of it has now been fenced and staffed with additional rangers to protect the newcomers.

Wilson Katabigwa, a senior warden at Ajai, said the reserve's neighboring communities, some of whom were involved in the poaching that emptied it decades ago, have welcomed the giraffes back. "Even the ones who finished [killed] the previous animals are happy to receive these animals," he said. The relocation is part of a broader recovery: fewer than 300 Nubian giraffes remained in Uganda as recently as 2010, and the population has since grown to more than 2,400, with Uganda now home to over half the world's Nubian giraffes.