Speaker Series: Meet Jenna Stacy-Dawes of the San Diego Zoo Global | June 14

Monday, June 14, 2021 — 6:00 pm

Learn how Jenna is helping save the giraffe of northern Kenya

It is difficult to imagine these top models of the wild animal kingdom, so full of grace, poise, long legs and eyelashes to die for, could disappear. Yet in 2016 the giraffe was added to the “Red List” as vulnerable to extinction, with their range decreasing on the only continent they are found in the wild—Africa. In the case of the reticulated giraffe of northern Kenya, their decline is even more drastic.

A host of important organizations formed a coalition for community-led collaborative conservation and research, and San Diego Zoo Global is a part of this program to protect the reticulated giraffe in the wild. At the center of these efforts is a team called the Twiga Walinzi, or “giraffe guards” in Swahili, and the Zoo’s researcher in population sustainability, Jenna Stacy-Dawes. Her team currently works with 16 individuals that manage the fascinating day-to-day operations of the Twiga Walinzi initiative.

Join us, with your family, to hear the fascinating stories Jenna will tell about her involvement and visits to the site. She will mesmerize you with her tales of her experiences in the field and all she has learned about this beautiful animal population while implementing their research methods in partnership with the Kenya Wildlife Service. Think awesome, in the true, old school sense of the word!