Assessing the success of conservation translocation establishment: Post-translocation demography of Nubian giraffe (Giraffa camelopardalis camelopardalis) in Uganda

Abstract

Conservation translocations are increasingly important for restoring and augmenting wild populations of extirpated species or those diminishing rapidly. Assessing the effectiveness of translocation outcomes requires a clear understanding of success metrics and long-term monitoring data. As such, the outcomes of conservation translocations remain underreported, limiting their potential for informing adaptive management and future translocation efforts. Here, we assess the post-translocation demography of multiple populations of the critically endangered Nubian giraffe (Giraffa camelopardalis camelopardalis) in Uganda. Since 2015, there have been a series of giraffe conservation translocations designed to reintroduce them to habitats where they were previously extirpated and to reinforce a small population. In 2015, Nubian giraffe were found in only two protected areas in Uganda: Murchison Falls National Park (NP) (north of the Nile River) and Kidepo Valley NP. Through several conservation translocations that used Murchison Falls NP as a source population, Nubian giraffe were translocated to Lake Mburo NP, Murchison Falls NP (south of the Nile River), and Pian Upe Wildlife Reserve, while the population in Kidepo Valley NP was reinforced. In this study, we evaluated the post-translocation demography of all Nubian giraffe populations in Uganda. Using individual-based photographic surveys and a combination of complete enumeration and mark-recapture analyses with Cormack Jolly Seber modeling, we estimated abundance and survival rates for all giraffe populations. After an average post-translocation latency period of 36 months, all giraffe populations in Uganda showed subsequent population growth and high survival rates across all age classes. Additionally, the donor population in northern Murchison Falls NP continued to show positive population growth. These results demonstrate the effectiveness of translocations and monitoring as conservation tools for the critically endangered Nubian giraffe in Uganda. Such comparisons allow for critical evaluations of post-translocation ecology and can be used to inform best practices for future translocation activities.