The Spatial Ecology of Southern Giraffe (Giraffa giraffa) in Hwange National Park and Savé Valley Conservancy, Zimbabwe

Giraffe in southern Africa range across diverse anthropogenic land-use types and understanding their habitat requirements across these differently managed areas is key to their long-term conservation in increasingly complex multiple-use landscapes. We evaluated vegetation type preference, seasonal home range sizes, and daily distances travelled of two major southern giraffe populations in Zimbabwe – Hwange National Park (HNP) and Save Valley Conservancy (SVC) – by fitting a total of 27 solar-powered GPS satellite units. There was a difference in seasonal vegetation type selection as giraffe favoured bushlands and woodlands compared to other vegetation types. We used a continuous time movement modelling framework to generate 95% autocorrelated kernel density estimates for home range models and found significantly larger home ranges in HNP (573.9 km2; CI: 429.4–766.9 km2) compared to SVC (191.7 km2; CI: 131.5–279.5 km2). We also found differences in seasonal range sizes between study areas: SVC – (84.4 km2; CI: 55.8–127.5 km2) during the early dry season and (98.5 km2; CI: 65.1–149.1 km2) during the wet season; and, in HNP – (349.4 km2; CI: 181.6–672.2 km2) during the wet season and (637.9 km2; CI: 357.8–1137.0 km2) during the late dry season. Ranges varied significantly between sites (P < 0.01), with giraffe in SVC exhibiting significantly smaller ranges than in HNP across all three seasons (early dry: P < 0.01; late dry: P < 0.01, wet: P < 0.01). Daily distances travelled by giraffe were relatively consistent across both sites; however, seasonal variability was observed (P = 0.07). Whilst SVC giraffe daily distances travelled were relatively consistent across seasons, HNP giraffe in the wet season were travelled significantly less than in the early dry season (P < 0.05). Environmental changes appear to be the biggest drivers of variation amongst giraffe home ranges, vegetation type selection, and daily distances travelled between SVC and HNP. This was the first-ever in-depth study of giraffe spatial ecology in Zimbabwe and these results can better inform future conservation management in the country.