Seasonal Dynamics Impact Habitat Preferences and Protected Area Use of the Critically Endangered Kordofan Giraffe (Giraffa camelopardalis antiquorum)

Understanding animals' habitat selection and movement behaviours relative to human activities is important for evaluating resource requirements and ensuring effective conservation management. The world's largest remaining population of Kordofan giraffe (Giraffa camelopardalis antiquorum) reside in Zakouma National Park, Chad. However, it is unclear whether the park boundaries sufficiently encompass the full range of this population's preferred habitats. We used GPS telemetry data from 17 female giraffe over multiple years to better understand landscape and seasonal factors that influence their home range patterns and habitat preferences at multiple spatial scales. Kordofan giraffe seasonal ranges and core seasonal ranges were larger during the wet season and core utilization distributions had greater overlap with the national park in the dry season. The importance of shifts in seasonal habitat use, attributed to the flooding and drying that occurs within the park, necessitates Kordofan giraffe to move beyond the park's boundaries. Kordofan giraffe selected for open grasslands (mean coefficient = 0.48, 95% CI [0.22,0.74]), and increased their tortuosity of movement in these areas (mean coefficient = –0.18, 95% CI [–0.23,–0.14]). Conversely, with Vachellia savannas as the reference level for land-cover variables, the giraffe avoided anthropogenic areas, barren lands, Combretaceae savannas and forests. We advise increased community-based co-learning projects and awareness of giraffe outside the park. In addition, by identifying key habitat types that giraffe selected, we advise enhanced monitoring in preferred giraffe habitats during the wet season to protect these areas from being encroached by human settlement or agricultural expansion, with the support of the legal framework of the Bahr Salamat Wildlife Reserve and other agreements that protect wet season wildlife corridors.