Your Toronto Zoo is proud to be part of the latest #HeritageMinute, honouring the late Dr. Anne Innis Dagg - a proud #GuardianofGiraffes and pioneer in giraffe research and conservation science 🦒 Did you know? Anne’s groundbreaking work first began in the 1950s, when she became the first Western scientist to study a wild mammal in Africa. Despite numerous challenges, she went on to publish one of the most influential books on giraffes, which became a cornerstone in zoology. Filmed here in the African Savanna of your Toronto Zoo with endangered Masai giraffes Kiko and Mstari and our Wildlife Care team, this collaboration highlighted the urgent need to protect giraffes in the wild. In December 2018, the conservation status of Masai giraffes was elevated to Endangered by the International Union for Conservation and Nature (IUCN). Fewer than 35,000 Masai giraffes survive in the wild, having experienced more than a 50% decline in the past 30 years. Illegal hunting and habitat loss ar...