World Giraffe Day is Saturday, June 21. The second longest day of the year is highly appropriate to celebrate the tallest animal on Earth and raise awareness about the challenges giraffes face in the wild.

Giraffes have appetites as large as they are! They eat huge amounts of tree shoots and seeds. This helps prevent overgrowth and reduce plant density, thus maintaining the ecological balance of their African ecosystems. Giraffes are also essential seed dispersers, as they feed on seeds that later pass through their digestive systems undamaged. They excrete the seeds as they move from place to place, contributing to the resilience of ecosystems by allowing plants to regenerate. They can also give an assist as a predator lookout for smaller herbivore species like zebras. From their lofty vantage point, giraffes can spot predators from a distance and warn their striped companions.

Giraffe populations are declining in the wild and the animals are listed as an endangered species. In fact, giraffes are extinct in at least seven countries in Africa. Habitat loss and fragmentation are the main threat to giraffes, who have lost almost 90% of their natural habitat. Over the past 35 years, giraffe numbers have decreased by nearly 30%. There are approximately 117,000 giraffes remaining in the wild – that is one giraffe for every four elephants in Africa!

When you visit the Pittsburgh Zoo & Aquarium, you support the care of Lewis, our Masai giraffe. There are many ways you can help share the word to protect his counterparts in the wild on World Giraffe Day and every day:

• Spread the word about giraffes and the issues they face with family and friends. Use the hashtag #StandTallForGiraffe when you post to your social media to help build awareness.

• Share some of your favorite photos of giraffes on social media with the hashtag #WorldGiraffeDay. Not only will you be spreading awareness about World Giraffe Day, but you may also inspire others to learn more about these amazing creatures.

• Offer your support the care of Lewis, our Masai giraffes and more than 8,000 other animals at the Pittsburgh Zoo & Aquarium with a donation.
• A giraffe can eat up to 75 pounds of food in one day! Symbolically adopt Lewis and help provide the best care possible for a whole year through the Zoo’s Adopt an Animal program (a great gift idea for giraffe lovers, too)
• By eating like a giraffe, or eating less meat-based meals, we can reduce our carbon hoofprint! Livestock farming produces large amounts of greenhouse gas emissions, and replacing some of your meat consumption, even day per week, with a plant-based alternative can reduce these emissions, decrease deforestation for livestock grazing, conserve water, and improve biodiversity!

Join us on Saturday, June 21, from 10:30 a.m. until 3:00 p.m. as we celebrate World Giraffe Day with touch tables, crafts, opportunities to meet giraffe keepers, and a special story time with Lewis the Giraffe! For details, visit our World Giraffe Day event page.