Giraffes in zoos and private collections face unique welfare challenges related to their size, social complexity, and specialized dietary needs, requiring evidence-based management to meet their needs.
Captive giraffes require large spaces to move freely and engage in natural social dynamics, which most zoo enclosures cannot adequately provide. Nutritional management is complex, requiring appropriate browse and preventing overconsumption of high-starch foods. Social isolation causes significant psychological distress. Capture and transport are particularly dangerous and stressful procedures. Zoos that invest in large mixed-species enclosures with appropriate browse plants, social groupings, and cognitive enrichment produce measurably better welfare outcomes. Accreditation standards that require welfare assessment plans for giraffes, including behavioral monitoring and nutritional analysis, are a key driver of improvement across the captive population.