The Rothschild's Giraffe Project

Zoe Muller is the Principal Investigator of the Rothschild's Giraffe Project.

Zoe is a Research Associate of the Giraffe Conservation Foundation and Postgraduate Researcher for the Mammal Research Unit at the University of Bristol, UK. Zoe is also a member of the IUCN/SSC International Giraffe Working Group, research affiliate of the Kenya Wildlife Service and advisory member of the National Giraffe Conservation Task Force for Kenya.

Through the Rothschild's Giraffe Project, Zoe aims to provide a comprehensive scientific review of the Rothschild's giraffe, assess the current conservation status and threats facing them in the wild, investigate the impact that enclosed populations have on their environment and to develop a conservation strategy to ensure their future survival.

Les comes to this project from New Zealand where he is currently employed by the Department of Conservation (www.doc.govt.nz) as a Scientific Officer. The main focus of his work in New Zealand is reptiles – developing monitoring and survey techniques for rare nocturnal and diurnal shrubland gecko species. In recent times he has been field team leader for a study on fragmented landscapes by a fruit pigeon (Kereru) and a honeyeater (tui). Before that he worked with a large forest parrot (kaka) looking at the effectiveness of predator (stoat) control as it related to kaka.

Les is now excited to be learning about African mammals and spending time in the field observing the Rothschild’s giraffe.