First Insights into the Fecal Metabolome of Healthy, Free-Roaming Giraffes (Giraffa camelopardalis): An Untargeted GCxGC/TOF-MS Metabolomics Study

This is the first study to investigate the composition of the fecal metabolome of free-roaming giraffes, as well as the effects that external factors, such as environmental exposures, feeding practices, seasonal variations, age and sex, have on it. This novel use of fecal metabolomics assists in developing non-invasive techniques to determine giraffe populations' health that do not require additional stressors such as capture, restraint and blood collection. Ultimately, such non-invasive advances are beneficial towards the conservation of wildlife species on a larger scale.