European studbook for the giraffe eep

Status and development of the European Studbook population
Kordofan giraffes
In 2007 a study proved that all giraffes in Europe formerly listed as Nigerian giraffes (Giraffa
camelopardalis peralta), were in fact Kordofan giraffes (Giraffa camelopardalis antiquorum).
Therefore both subpopulations were taken together in one Kordofan giraffe population, which now
has a much brighter future in captivity.
In 2008 the population of Kordofan giraffes did well in Europe. No less than ten (7.3) giraffes
were born (1.0 DNS) and only three (2.1) died, resulting in a natural growth of 6 giraffes (10%).
Ten giraffes (3.7) giraffes were transported between EAZA institutions; this includes also the
complete group (1.4) of Antwerp Zoo, which was transported to Planckendael. Antwerp is now
keeping a group of hybrid females. There is a lot of interest from institutions to start keeping this
subspecies, like Dresden/DE and Montpellier/FR; both institutions will receive males for their
bachelor group.
As one can see, the population is doing well and despite the low number of founders (6) the
prospects for this subspecies are not bad. Thanks to the fact that recently we could take together
two groups of giraffes that were formerly kept separately as they were considered different
subspecies, the gene diversity can increase considerably in the future. For this a strict management
on EEP-level is required. With such a management this subspecies can survive in Europe.
Genetic analysis for Kordofan giraffes
End of End of Potential
2008 2007
Founders 6 6 0 additional
Living descendants 67,50 61,25 -
Percent Known 99,3 98,8 -
Gene Diversity 0,7900 0,7900 0,8718
Gene Value 0,7849 0,7851 -
Founder Genome 2,38 2,38 3,90
Equivalents
Founder Genomes 3,90 3,89 3,90
Surviving
Mean Inbreeding (F) 0,1790 0,1841 -
18