{"id":204,"date":"2019-02-22T12:30:38","date_gmt":"2019-02-22T12:30:38","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/dereklee.peachpuff-wolverine-566518.hostingersite.com\/?p=204"},"modified":"2019-02-22T12:32:05","modified_gmt":"2019-02-22T12:32:05","slug":"new-study-reveals-how-human-settlements-and-rainfall-affect-giraffe-space-use","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/scienceblog.com\/dereklee\/204\/new-study-reveals-how-human-settlements-and-rainfall-affect-giraffe-space-use\/","title":{"rendered":"New study reveals how human settlements and rainfall affect giraffe space use"},"content":{"rendered":"

ARUSHA, Tanzania, 22 February 2019 \u2013 Giraffes are huge browsing animals that live in African savanna ecosystems where they must find everything they need to survive and reproduce in landscapes increasingly impacted by human activities. People are converting natural savannas to towns and farms, and cutting trees for fuelwood and charcoal industries, all of which potentially degrade giraffe habitat. The spatial area over which an animal repeatedly travels in search of food, water, shelter and mates is the home range, a concept used by ecologists to describe space use by animals. Home range behavior is an expression of an animal\u2019s decision-making process about how to access the resources needed for survival and reproduction. A new study<\/a> examining what affects the size of giraffe home ranges was published this week in the journal Animal Behaviour<\/em> by an international team of wildlife researchers from University of Z\u00fcrich, Penn State University, and Wild Nature Institute. The team found that giraffes living closer to towns had larger home ranges than giraffes living far from towns, suggesting a need to range longer distances\u2014and expend more energy\u2014to obtain critical resources in human-impacted areas. No such relationship was evident with bomas, which are homesteads built by indigenous livestock-keeping Maasai people, suggesting that giraffes are tolerant of more traditional, lower-impact land uses. \u201cGiraffes are vulnerable to extinction after a 40% population decline during the past 3 decades,\u201d said Mara Kn\u00fcsel a graduate student at the University of Z\u00fcrich and first author of the study. \u201cIdentifying factors affecting space use help wildlife conservationists to make better decisions for at-risk species such as giraffes.\u201d<\/p>\n

As one of the largest herbivores on earth, giraffes have a profound impact on plant populations, vegetation structure, and ecosystem processes where they live. Giraffes are also a favorite animal sought by ecotourists on safari in Tanzania, where the safari industry is the number-one dollar earner and the largest economic sector in the country. \u201cMost studies that previously looked at home ranges of giraffes didn\u2019t look for environmental factors that determine the observed home range size, so this study goes beyond the pattern to reveal the process behind it,\u201d said Monica Bond, PhD candidate at University of Z\u00fcrich and senior author of the study.<\/p>\n

The team quantified home range sizes for 71 adult giraffes from data collected over 6 years, and examined correlations between individual home range sizes and environmental and anthropogenic factors in the spatially heterogeneous Tarangire Ecosystem of Tanzania, to better understand potential mechanisms driving space use of this threatened megaherbivore. They also compared home range estimates from published data for 8 giraffe populations across Africa, and examined the relationship between giraffe home range size and mean annual rainfall at the continental scale as a potential explanation for observed variation in space use among populations. Rainfall was negatively correlated with home range size and explained 74% of the variation in giraffe home range sizes across Africa. This relationship between rainfall and space use by a large herbivore is not surprising, given that rainfall is the main driver of vegetation productivity and thus food availability. Greater availability and access to critical resources such as food and water leads to smaller home range sizes. \u201cHuman disturbance and fragmentation of habitat in and around densely populated areas likely reduced the local forage and water resources available for giraffes, forcing individuals to increase their movements and use of space to obtain these resources,\u201d said Kn\u00fcsel. \u201cSimilarly, lower rainfall and lower primary productivity forces individuals to range more widely.\u201d<\/p>\n

The study at the publisher’s site:
\nhttps:\/\/doi.org\/10.1016\/j.anbehav.2019.01.017<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

ARUSHA, Tanzania, 22 February 2019 \u2013 Giraffes are huge browsing animals that live in African savanna ecosystems where they must find everything they need to survive and reproduce in landscapes increasingly impacted by human activities. People are converting natural savannas to towns and farms, and cutting trees for fuelwood and charcoal industries, all of which … Read more<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":284,"featured_media":205,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"generate_page_header":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[22,2,21,3],"tags":[5,8,6,7,4,23],"class_list":["post-204","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-animal","category-ecology","category-giraffe","category-wildlife-conservation","tag-animals","tag-derek-lee","tag-giraffe","tag-wild-nature-institute","tag-wildlife","tag-wildlife-conservation"],"yoast_head":"\nNew study reveals how human settlements and rainfall affect giraffe space use - Derek Lee<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/scienceblog.com\/dereklee\/204\/new-study-reveals-how-human-settlements-and-rainfall-affect-giraffe-space-use\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"New study reveals how human settlements and rainfall affect giraffe space use\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"ARUSHA, Tanzania, 22 February 2019 \u2013 Giraffes are huge browsing animals that live in African savanna ecosystems where they must find everything they need to survive and reproduce in landscapes increasingly impacted by human activities. People are converting natural savannas to towns and farms, and cutting trees for fuelwood and charcoal industries, all of which ... Read more\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/scienceblog.com\/dereklee\/204\/new-study-reveals-how-human-settlements-and-rainfall-affect-giraffe-space-use\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Derek Lee\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2019-02-22T12:30:38+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2019-02-22T12:32:05+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/scienceblog.com\/dereklee\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/6\/2019\/02\/giraffesngo_orig.jpg?fit=1024%2C385&ssl=1\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1024\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"385\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Derek Lee\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Derek Lee\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"3 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/scienceblog.com\\\/dereklee\\\/204\\\/new-study-reveals-how-human-settlements-and-rainfall-affect-giraffe-space-use\\\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/scienceblog.com\\\/dereklee\\\/204\\\/new-study-reveals-how-human-settlements-and-rainfall-affect-giraffe-space-use\\\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"Derek Lee\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/scienceblog.com\\\/dereklee\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/41b42fba55c50c75d88b1a44c47d067c\"},\"headline\":\"New study reveals how human settlements and rainfall affect giraffe space use\",\"datePublished\":\"2019-02-22T12:30:38+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2019-02-22T12:32:05+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/scienceblog.com\\\/dereklee\\\/204\\\/new-study-reveals-how-human-settlements-and-rainfall-affect-giraffe-space-use\\\/\"},\"wordCount\":604,\"commentCount\":1,\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/scienceblog.com\\\/dereklee\\\/#organization\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/scienceblog.com\\\/dereklee\\\/204\\\/new-study-reveals-how-human-settlements-and-rainfall-affect-giraffe-space-use\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/i0.wp.com\\\/scienceblog.com\\\/dereklee\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/sites\\\/6\\\/2019\\\/02\\\/giraffesngo_orig.jpg?fit=1024%2C385&ssl=1\",\"keywords\":[\"animals\",\"derek lee\",\"giraffe\",\"wild nature institute\",\"wildlife\",\"wildlife conservation\"],\"articleSection\":[\"animal\",\"ecology\",\"giraffe\",\"wildlife conservation\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/scienceblog.com\\\/dereklee\\\/204\\\/new-study-reveals-how-human-settlements-and-rainfall-affect-giraffe-space-use\\\/#respond\"]}],\"copyrightYear\":\"2019\",\"copyrightHolder\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/scienceblog.com\\\/#organization\"}},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/scienceblog.com\\\/dereklee\\\/204\\\/new-study-reveals-how-human-settlements-and-rainfall-affect-giraffe-space-use\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/scienceblog.com\\\/dereklee\\\/204\\\/new-study-reveals-how-human-settlements-and-rainfall-affect-giraffe-space-use\\\/\",\"name\":\"New study reveals how human settlements and rainfall affect giraffe space use - Derek Lee\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/scienceblog.com\\\/dereklee\\\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/scienceblog.com\\\/dereklee\\\/204\\\/new-study-reveals-how-human-settlements-and-rainfall-affect-giraffe-space-use\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/scienceblog.com\\\/dereklee\\\/204\\\/new-study-reveals-how-human-settlements-and-rainfall-affect-giraffe-space-use\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/i0.wp.com\\\/scienceblog.com\\\/dereklee\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/sites\\\/6\\\/2019\\\/02\\\/giraffesngo_orig.jpg?fit=1024%2C385&ssl=1\",\"datePublished\":\"2019-02-22T12:30:38+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2019-02-22T12:32:05+00:00\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/scienceblog.com\\\/dereklee\\\/204\\\/new-study-reveals-how-human-settlements-and-rainfall-affect-giraffe-space-use\\\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/scienceblog.com\\\/dereklee\\\/204\\\/new-study-reveals-how-human-settlements-and-rainfall-affect-giraffe-space-use\\\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/scienceblog.com\\\/dereklee\\\/204\\\/new-study-reveals-how-human-settlements-and-rainfall-affect-giraffe-space-use\\\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/i0.wp.com\\\/scienceblog.com\\\/dereklee\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/sites\\\/6\\\/2019\\\/02\\\/giraffesngo_orig.jpg?fit=1024%2C385&ssl=1\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/i0.wp.com\\\/scienceblog.com\\\/dereklee\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/sites\\\/6\\\/2019\\\/02\\\/giraffesngo_orig.jpg?fit=1024%2C385&ssl=1\",\"width\":1024,\"height\":385,\"caption\":\"According to new research, effective wildlife law enforcement which protects giraffes from illegal hunting is the best ways to keep giraffe populations healthy and thriving.\"},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/scienceblog.com\\\/dereklee\\\/204\\\/new-study-reveals-how-human-settlements-and-rainfall-affect-giraffe-space-use\\\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\\\/\\\/scienceblog.com\\\/dereklee\\\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"New study reveals how human settlements and rainfall affect giraffe space use\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/scienceblog.com\\\/dereklee\\\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/scienceblog.com\\\/dereklee\\\/\",\"name\":\"Derek Lee\",\"description\":\"Wild Nature Institute\",\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/scienceblog.com\\\/dereklee\\\/#organization\"},\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\\\/\\\/scienceblog.com\\\/dereklee\\\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Organization\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/scienceblog.com\\\/dereklee\\\/#organization\",\"name\":\"Derek Lee\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/scienceblog.com\\\/dereklee\\\/\",\"logo\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/scienceblog.com\\\/dereklee\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/logo\\\/image\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/i0.wp.com\\\/scienceblog.com\\\/dereklee\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/sites\\\/6\\\/2025\\\/04\\\/cropped-WNI-Three-Line-Logo.jpg?fit=2303%2C1149&ssl=1\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/i0.wp.com\\\/scienceblog.com\\\/dereklee\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/sites\\\/6\\\/2025\\\/04\\\/cropped-WNI-Three-Line-Logo.jpg?fit=2303%2C1149&ssl=1\",\"width\":2303,\"height\":1149,\"caption\":\"Derek Lee\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/scienceblog.com\\\/dereklee\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/logo\\\/image\\\/\"}},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/scienceblog.com\\\/dereklee\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/41b42fba55c50c75d88b1a44c47d067c\",\"name\":\"Derek Lee\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/795f1f3e792a49d904ae6ad8e9f57bb1db46f9b16a8a56beb88756e38c9650ba?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/795f1f3e792a49d904ae6ad8e9f57bb1db46f9b16a8a56beb88756e38c9650ba?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/795f1f3e792a49d904ae6ad8e9f57bb1db46f9b16a8a56beb88756e38c9650ba?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"Derek Lee\"},\"description\":\"Derek Lee\ufeff, PhD, is a quantitative wildlife biologist with expertise in conservation demography and population ecology. Current research investigates Masai Giraffe and other large mammal populations within a fragmented landscape in Tanzania. This work examines how births, deaths, and movements of ungulates are impacted by increasingly fragmented wildlife habitat, and what conservation actions are most effective. He spent 10 years researching the impacts of climate and ocean conditions on survival, reproduction, and population growth rates of marine predators such as northern elephant seals, Common Murres, and Cassin's Auklets at the South Farallon Islands, California. His work was included in a conservation and management plan for seabirds in the California Current. He also studied migration of Black Brant in Humboldt Bay as well as fire ecology of small mammals in California's oak woodlands and California Spotted Owls in the Sierra Nevada.\",\"sameAs\":[\"http:\\\/\\\/www.wildnatureinstitute.org\"],\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/scienceblog.com\\\/dereklee\\\/author\\\/dereklee\\\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO Premium plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"New study reveals how human settlements and rainfall affect giraffe space use - Derek Lee","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/scienceblog.com\/dereklee\/204\/new-study-reveals-how-human-settlements-and-rainfall-affect-giraffe-space-use\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"New study reveals how human settlements and rainfall affect giraffe space use","og_description":"ARUSHA, Tanzania, 22 February 2019 \u2013 Giraffes are huge browsing animals that live in African savanna ecosystems where they must find everything they need to survive and reproduce in landscapes increasingly impacted by human activities. People are converting natural savannas to towns and farms, and cutting trees for fuelwood and charcoal industries, all of which ... Read more","og_url":"https:\/\/scienceblog.com\/dereklee\/204\/new-study-reveals-how-human-settlements-and-rainfall-affect-giraffe-space-use\/","og_site_name":"Derek Lee","article_published_time":"2019-02-22T12:30:38+00:00","article_modified_time":"2019-02-22T12:32:05+00:00","og_image":[{"width":1024,"height":385,"url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/scienceblog.com\/dereklee\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/6\/2019\/02\/giraffesngo_orig.jpg?fit=1024%2C385&ssl=1","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"Derek Lee","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Derek Lee","Est. reading time":"3 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/scienceblog.com\/dereklee\/204\/new-study-reveals-how-human-settlements-and-rainfall-affect-giraffe-space-use\/#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/scienceblog.com\/dereklee\/204\/new-study-reveals-how-human-settlements-and-rainfall-affect-giraffe-space-use\/"},"author":{"name":"Derek Lee","@id":"https:\/\/scienceblog.com\/dereklee\/#\/schema\/person\/41b42fba55c50c75d88b1a44c47d067c"},"headline":"New study reveals how human settlements and rainfall affect giraffe space use","datePublished":"2019-02-22T12:30:38+00:00","dateModified":"2019-02-22T12:32:05+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/scienceblog.com\/dereklee\/204\/new-study-reveals-how-human-settlements-and-rainfall-affect-giraffe-space-use\/"},"wordCount":604,"commentCount":1,"publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/scienceblog.com\/dereklee\/#organization"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/scienceblog.com\/dereklee\/204\/new-study-reveals-how-human-settlements-and-rainfall-affect-giraffe-space-use\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/scienceblog.com\/dereklee\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/6\/2019\/02\/giraffesngo_orig.jpg?fit=1024%2C385&ssl=1","keywords":["animals","derek lee","giraffe","wild nature institute","wildlife","wildlife conservation"],"articleSection":["animal","ecology","giraffe","wildlife conservation"],"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"CommentAction","name":"Comment","target":["https:\/\/scienceblog.com\/dereklee\/204\/new-study-reveals-how-human-settlements-and-rainfall-affect-giraffe-space-use\/#respond"]}],"copyrightYear":"2019","copyrightHolder":{"@id":"https:\/\/scienceblog.com\/#organization"}},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/scienceblog.com\/dereklee\/204\/new-study-reveals-how-human-settlements-and-rainfall-affect-giraffe-space-use\/","url":"https:\/\/scienceblog.com\/dereklee\/204\/new-study-reveals-how-human-settlements-and-rainfall-affect-giraffe-space-use\/","name":"New study reveals how human settlements and rainfall affect giraffe space use - Derek Lee","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/scienceblog.com\/dereklee\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/scienceblog.com\/dereklee\/204\/new-study-reveals-how-human-settlements-and-rainfall-affect-giraffe-space-use\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/scienceblog.com\/dereklee\/204\/new-study-reveals-how-human-settlements-and-rainfall-affect-giraffe-space-use\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/scienceblog.com\/dereklee\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/6\/2019\/02\/giraffesngo_orig.jpg?fit=1024%2C385&ssl=1","datePublished":"2019-02-22T12:30:38+00:00","dateModified":"2019-02-22T12:32:05+00:00","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/scienceblog.com\/dereklee\/204\/new-study-reveals-how-human-settlements-and-rainfall-affect-giraffe-space-use\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/scienceblog.com\/dereklee\/204\/new-study-reveals-how-human-settlements-and-rainfall-affect-giraffe-space-use\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/scienceblog.com\/dereklee\/204\/new-study-reveals-how-human-settlements-and-rainfall-affect-giraffe-space-use\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/scienceblog.com\/dereklee\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/6\/2019\/02\/giraffesngo_orig.jpg?fit=1024%2C385&ssl=1","contentUrl":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/scienceblog.com\/dereklee\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/6\/2019\/02\/giraffesngo_orig.jpg?fit=1024%2C385&ssl=1","width":1024,"height":385,"caption":"According to new research, effective wildlife law enforcement which protects giraffes from illegal hunting is the best ways to keep giraffe populations healthy and thriving."},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/scienceblog.com\/dereklee\/204\/new-study-reveals-how-human-settlements-and-rainfall-affect-giraffe-space-use\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/scienceblog.com\/dereklee\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"New study reveals how human settlements and rainfall affect giraffe space use"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/scienceblog.com\/dereklee\/#website","url":"https:\/\/scienceblog.com\/dereklee\/","name":"Derek Lee","description":"Wild Nature Institute","publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/scienceblog.com\/dereklee\/#organization"},"potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/scienceblog.com\/dereklee\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Organization","@id":"https:\/\/scienceblog.com\/dereklee\/#organization","name":"Derek Lee","url":"https:\/\/scienceblog.com\/dereklee\/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/scienceblog.com\/dereklee\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/scienceblog.com\/dereklee\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/6\/2025\/04\/cropped-WNI-Three-Line-Logo.jpg?fit=2303%2C1149&ssl=1","contentUrl":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/scienceblog.com\/dereklee\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/6\/2025\/04\/cropped-WNI-Three-Line-Logo.jpg?fit=2303%2C1149&ssl=1","width":2303,"height":1149,"caption":"Derek Lee"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/scienceblog.com\/dereklee\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/"}},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/scienceblog.com\/dereklee\/#\/schema\/person\/41b42fba55c50c75d88b1a44c47d067c","name":"Derek Lee","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/795f1f3e792a49d904ae6ad8e9f57bb1db46f9b16a8a56beb88756e38c9650ba?s=96&d=mm&r=g","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/795f1f3e792a49d904ae6ad8e9f57bb1db46f9b16a8a56beb88756e38c9650ba?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/795f1f3e792a49d904ae6ad8e9f57bb1db46f9b16a8a56beb88756e38c9650ba?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"Derek Lee"},"description":"Derek Lee\ufeff, PhD, is a quantitative wildlife biologist with expertise in conservation demography and population ecology. Current research investigates Masai Giraffe and other large mammal populations within a fragmented landscape in Tanzania. This work examines how births, deaths, and movements of ungulates are impacted by increasingly fragmented wildlife habitat, and what conservation actions are most effective. He spent 10 years researching the impacts of climate and ocean conditions on survival, reproduction, and population growth rates of marine predators such as northern elephant seals, Common Murres, and Cassin's Auklets at the South Farallon Islands, California. His work was included in a conservation and management plan for seabirds in the California Current. He also studied migration of Black Brant in Humboldt Bay as well as fire ecology of small mammals in California's oak woodlands and California Spotted Owls in the Sierra Nevada.","sameAs":["http:\/\/www.wildnatureinstitute.org"],"url":"https:\/\/scienceblog.com\/dereklee\/author\/dereklee\/"}]}},"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/scienceblog.com\/dereklee\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/6\/2019\/02\/giraffesngo_orig.jpg?fit=1024%2C385&ssl=1","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/pgtNOJ-3i","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":48,"url":"https:\/\/scienceblog.com\/dereklee\/48\/five-wildlife-protection-groups-petitioned-the-u-s-fish-and-wildlife-service-to-protect-giraffes-under-the-u-s-endangered-species-act\/","url_meta":{"origin":204,"position":0},"title":"Five Wildlife Protection Groups Petitioned the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service to Protect Giraffes under the U.S. Endangered Species Act","author":"Derek Lee","date":"April 19, 2017","format":false,"excerpt":"In response to recent scientific consensus on giraffes' vulnerability to extinction, five wildlife protection groups today petitioned the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service to protect Earth's tallest land animal under the U.S. Endangered Species Act. The legal petition, filed by the Center for Biological Diversity, Humane Society International, The Humane\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "animal"","block_context":{"text":"animal","link":"https:\/\/scienceblog.com\/dereklee\/category\/animal\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Picture of Giraffes in Tanzania, WIld Nature Institute","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/scienceblog.com\/dereklee\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/6\/2016\/12\/giraffe01_funky_web.png?fit=878%2C490&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/scienceblog.com\/dereklee\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/6\/2016\/12\/giraffe01_funky_web.png?fit=878%2C490&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/scienceblog.com\/dereklee\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/6\/2016\/12\/giraffe01_funky_web.png?fit=878%2C490&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/scienceblog.com\/dereklee\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/6\/2016\/12\/giraffe01_funky_web.png?fit=878%2C490&ssl=1&resize=700%2C400 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":10,"url":"https:\/\/scienceblog.com\/dereklee\/10\/big-data-for-big-animals\/","url_meta":{"origin":204,"position":1},"title":"Big Data for Big Animals","author":"Derek Lee","date":"November 23, 2016","format":false,"excerpt":"Wild Nature Institute Giraffe Research Uses High Tech Big Data Tools Part 1: Matching Giraffe Photos Using Virtual Supercomputers Giraffe are the tallest animal on earth, so it is no surprise that scientists have turned to them to apply big data solutions to wildlife conservation. \u00a0Researchers from the Wild Nature\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "ecology"","block_context":{"text":"ecology","link":"https:\/\/scienceblog.com\/dereklee\/category\/ecology\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Giraffe torso photos used to identify more than 3000 individual giraffes as part of the world's largest giraffe study.","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/scienceblog.com\/dereklee\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/6\/2016\/11\/4917765_orig-e1479998973165.png?fit=450%2C385&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":124,"url":"https:\/\/scienceblog.com\/dereklee\/124\/giraffe-skin-disease-linked-to-soil-fertility\/","url_meta":{"origin":204,"position":2},"title":"Giraffe Skin Disease Linked to Soil Fertility","author":"Derek Lee","date":"April 3, 2018","format":false,"excerpt":"Giraffe Skin Disease is a disorder of the skin that is characterized by crusty lesions on the back side of the front legs of adult Masai giraffe (Giraffa camelopardalis tippelskirchi) the only subspecies in Tanzania.\u00a0Lesions such as the ones shown in this picture on the forelimbs indicate Giraffe Skin Disease.\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "animal"","block_context":{"text":"animal","link":"https:\/\/scienceblog.com\/dereklee\/category\/animal\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Giraffe in Tarangire National Park","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/scienceblog.com\/dereklee\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/6\/2018\/04\/GirHeadFunk.jpg?fit=800%2C533&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/scienceblog.com\/dereklee\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/6\/2018\/04\/GirHeadFunk.jpg?fit=800%2C533&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/scienceblog.com\/dereklee\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/6\/2018\/04\/GirHeadFunk.jpg?fit=800%2C533&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/scienceblog.com\/dereklee\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/6\/2018\/04\/GirHeadFunk.jpg?fit=800%2C533&ssl=1&resize=700%2C400 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":337,"url":"https:\/\/scienceblog.com\/dereklee\/337\/the-best-way-to-save-giraffes-is-to-support-wildlife-law-enforcement-and-end-poaching\/","url_meta":{"origin":204,"position":3},"title":"The Best Way to Save Giraffes is to Support Wildlife Law Enforcement and End Poaching","author":"Derek Lee","date":"October 11, 2023","format":false,"excerpt":"Iconic animals such as giraffes can be flagship species for conservation because of their charisma and popularity among the public. A new study explored the various threats to giraffe populations, and how specific human actions can mediate those threats so that giraffes and people can thrive together in African savannas.\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "animal"","block_context":{"text":"animal","link":"https:\/\/scienceblog.com\/dereklee\/category\/animal\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"giraffes","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/scienceblog.com\/dereklee\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/6\/2019\/02\/giraffesngo_orig.jpg?fit=1024%2C385&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/scienceblog.com\/dereklee\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/6\/2019\/02\/giraffesngo_orig.jpg?fit=1024%2C385&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/scienceblog.com\/dereklee\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/6\/2019\/02\/giraffesngo_orig.jpg?fit=1024%2C385&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/scienceblog.com\/dereklee\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/6\/2019\/02\/giraffesngo_orig.jpg?fit=1024%2C385&ssl=1&resize=700%2C400 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":23,"url":"https:\/\/scienceblog.com\/dereklee\/23\/big-data-for-big-animals-part-3\/","url_meta":{"origin":204,"position":4},"title":"Big Data for Big Animals: Part 3","author":"Derek Lee","date":"November 27, 2016","format":false,"excerpt":"Wild Nature Institute Giraffe Research Uses Big Data Tools Part 3: Velocity, Volume, and Variety in Tall Data for Giraffe Conservation Giraffes are big animals, so scientists have turned to big data solutions for giraffe conservation.\u00a0 Researchers from the Wild Nature Institute are conducting one of the largest-scale big mammal\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "ecology"","block_context":{"text":"ecology","link":"https:\/\/scienceblog.com\/dereklee\/category\/ecology\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":189,"url":"https:\/\/scienceblog.com\/dereklee\/189\/wild-nature-institute-penn-state-and-microsoft-azure-work-together-to-find-the-giraffe-in-the-bushes\/","url_meta":{"origin":204,"position":5},"title":"Wild Nature Institute, Penn State, and Microsoft Azure Work Together to Find the Giraffe in the Bushes","author":"Derek Lee","date":"February 5, 2019","format":false,"excerpt":"Giraffe are the tallest animal on earth, so naturally scientists have turned to big data solutions for giraffe conservation.\u00a0 Researchers from Penn State and Wild Nature Institute are conducting one of the biggest large mammal studies ever undertaken by studying births, deaths, and movements of more than 3,000 giraffes across\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "animal"","block_context":{"text":"animal","link":"https:\/\/scienceblog.com\/dereklee\/category\/animal\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Giraffe torso photos used to identify more than 3000 individual giraffes as part of the world's largest giraffe study.","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/scienceblog.com\/dereklee\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/6\/2016\/11\/4917765_orig-e1479998973165.png?fit=450%2C385&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/scienceblog.com\/dereklee\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/204","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/scienceblog.com\/dereklee\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/scienceblog.com\/dereklee\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/scienceblog.com\/dereklee\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/284"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/scienceblog.com\/dereklee\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=204"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/scienceblog.com\/dereklee\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/204\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/scienceblog.com\/dereklee\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/205"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/scienceblog.com\/dereklee\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=204"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/scienceblog.com\/dereklee\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=204"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/scienceblog.com\/dereklee\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=204"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}