Giraffes face a 'silent extinction' in the wild with populations declining sharply. In captivity, their welfare requires specific space, social grouping, and nutrition management.
Giraffe welfare in captivity is compromised by scale mismatches - animals adapted for open savannah ranges of hundreds of square kilometres confined to enclosures measured in hectares. Social grouping matters: bachelor male groups show different welfare dynamics than mixed groups with females. Feeding station design affects whether animals can feed in natural head-down posture or must adopt unnatural positions. Wild giraffe welfare suffers from habitat fragmentation, poaching, and population decline that reduces genetic diversity. Conservation programmes that maintain viable wild populations ultimately serve giraffe welfare better than ex-situ breeding alone.