Each plush comes with a real giraffe to track

Track a real giraffe and hug this one! Created in partnership with Somali Giraffe Project, each giraffe plush unlocks an interactive tracking map and sticks its neck out to support conservation efforts.

Details

One small plush. One big mission

• 10% of profits donated to Somali Giraffe Project and their work restoring reticulated giraffes in eastern Kenya. The Trek Plush helps further this mission with every purchase, tracking giraffes through African grasslands.

• Stuffing made from recycled water bottles

• Huggable for all ages

• Size: 12"

How It Works

• Tracked via GPS tail tag
• This animal’s safety guarded with the Fahlo Protection Ping™

Every Fahlo tracking experience includes the Fahlo Protection Ping™. This indicates each animal’s unique path may be live, delayed, or historical based on required safety protocol in accordance with our nonprofit partners.

While the experience of following an animal’s journey remains the same for you, we work behind the scenes with our partners to ensure this experience is presented in a way that keeps the animals safe, one step or splash at a time.

FAQ's

Why are giraffes being tracked?

• Giraffes are one of the most recognizable  on Earth, yet we know very little about their biology and conservation needs. This is because giraffes, due to their unique anatomy, have not been good candidates for collaring until recently. Recent advancements in technology have allowed our partners at the Somali Giraffe Project to track these unique animals in an effort to understand their movements and habitat use.

  For example, tracking helps us understand giraffes' home range sizes and how they move and utilize their landscape, how they select resources and share the landscape with humans, and ultimately provides insight into the drivers of their decline. Some of the contemporary threats facing giraffes include poaching, bushmeat trade, diseases, habitat loss, and climate change. Through this process, scientists are able to gauge critical conservation needs and deduce from the data how best to save giraffes from extinction.

How are giraffes being tracked?

• Giraffes are tracked by placing a tag on their tail, which sends back hourly GPS locations via satellite to our partners at the Somali Giraffe Project. During the tagging process, their team is also able to take body measurements and other vitals as well as blood and hair samples, depending on the specific research needs. This process is very quick and lasts less than 5–10 minutes from tagging to release.

Does tracking harm the giraffes?

• Giraffe research historically has lagged behind compared to other large mammals. This is because typical collars placed on the neck of animals do not fit giraffes well, as they slide right off when the animal bends. Recently, scientists have tried to figure out the best way to put tags on giraffes. Initial trials recommended putting solar powered tags on the ossicones of giraffes, but these generated controversy and were discontinued. More recently, this has changed to putting the same tags on the giraffes' tail, and this has been shown not to harm the giraffe at all. These very light solar powered devices do not affect the animal in terms of their behavior or health, and are the safest way to track giraffes currently!