What went wrong with the Gerenuks in Tanzania?

Tanzania is rapidly losing its Gerenuks, the ungulates known locally as Swala-Twiga.

According to the recently released report of the census conducted by the Arusha-based, Tanzania Wildlife Research Institute (TAWIRI), the number of these species is rapidly dwindling while their closest cousins such as the elands and Impalas are on the increase.

The latest wildlife census report which raised the concern was recently tabled in Arusha by the Director General of TAWIRI and renowned researcher, Dr Eblate Mjingo, pictured below.

Featuring a long, vertical neck, Gerenuks are essentially antelopes that look like giraffes and these species of wildlife are highly under threat.

It is not just Tanzania which sees the shrinking number of gerenuks.

Apparently, the global population of the long-necked ungulates is said to be less than 9​0,000 and rapidly dropping.

So far Gerenuks are only found in Africa and distributed across five countries, including Djibouti, Ethiopia, Kenya, Somalia and Tanzania

According to experts, Gerenuk are primarily threatened by the loss and fragmentation of their natural habitat.

The loss grazing range is associated with growing local human populations, expansion of settlements, construction of roads and other activities such as agriculture and industrialization.

As a result, some isolated populations of Gerenuks cannot find suitable food and shelter.

Some Gerenuks are even unable to find mates and find it hard to escape from predators because the human world is closing down on them.

The giraffe-like antelope known in Kiswahili as Swala-Twiga can be described as a diurnal animal (active mainly during the day), though it typically stands or rests in shade during the noon.

They are highly specialized antelopes that browse on leaves and pods rather than grazing, totally different from their close relatives, the impalas and gazelles.

For the Gerenuks foraging and feeding form their major activities throughout the day, with females appearing to be spending longer time on grazing than males.

The gerenuk, known scientifically as Litocranius walleri, has an extremely elongated neck, spindly “giraffe-like” legs and a wedge-shaped head, setting the animal apart both structurally and behaviorally from impalas and gazelles.

It feeds almost entirely by standing upright on its hind legs to browse like giraffes rather than graze as most antelopes do.

The census report did not give actual population figures for the animal but it identified the species as having declined drastically in numbers and recommended urgent intervention measures be taken before the animal disappeared altogether.

A recent Lake Natron study indicated how fragile the situation could be.

Researchers counted only 172 gerenuks during the survey period, with 88 recorded during the wet season and 84 in the dry season.

Their estimated density was only 0.79 individuals per square kilometer, meaning a person had to cover at least two square kilometres to spot a single animal.

Meanwhile Tanzania remains the world’s leading lion country, with a total 17,200 of the big cats, up from the 16,800, counted during the last census conducted about ten years ago.

The number of elephants increased from 46,408 in 2014/2015 to 66,714 in 2024/2025, while buffaloes rose from 242,945 to 328,437 during the same period.

Rhinos increased from 142 to 285, greater kudu from 3,877 to 6,417, sable antelopes from 12,586 to 20,983, elands from 52,558 to 102,591 and roan antelopes from 3,488 to 6,904.

The number of Giraffes on the other hand, rose from 27,478 to 29,185 while the wildebeest, champions of the annual Great Serengeti Migration, increased from 1,501,108 to 1,598,290.

Zebras increased from 306,620 to a steady 340,111 beasts as the census covered 340,748 square kilometres, about one third of Tanzania’s land mass.