Animals in Captivity

Confined Giants: The Plight of Giraffe in Zoos (2022)

As the world’s tallest land mammal, the giraffe is a fascinating, well-known, and much-loved species, yet the suffering experienced by giraffe in zoos is rarely acknowledged.

As of 2020, there are at least 579 captive giraffe at 103 zoos throughout North America and more than 800 in European zoos, including at least 150 in U.K. The North American totals are likely even higher, as these numbers do not include giraffe kept in USDA-certified facilities including circuses, animal shows, and non-AZA accredited zoos.

Unlike free-living giraffe, who form complex social relationships, many giraffe in zoos are deprived of this opportunity, and in several cases live alone or with just one other individual. Captive giraffe are confined to enclosures that are a tiny fraction (typically <1%) of their average wild home range and are all too often bare and simplistic. Lameness, physical trauma, and nutritional diseases are common problems for captive giraffe, alongside behavioral disturbances. Most giraffe in zoos suffer reduced lifespan.

These complex, social, wide-ranging, browsing animals are not suited to a life in zoos, and the role of zoos in the overall conservation of the species remains highly questionable.

With Confined Giants: The Plight of Giraffe in Zoos, Born Free explores the nature of zoo captivity for giraffes, calls on zoos to commit to the phasing-out of keeping giraffe in captivity, and urges zoos and members of the public to instead support giraffe conservation in the wild.