Unexpected discoveries in study of giraffe gut flora

In a new study published in Global Ecology and Conservation, researchers have analysed the relationship between the diet and microbiome, or gut flora, of giraffes in Kenya. By sequencing plant and bacterial DNA from faecal samples, they were able to investigate both the bacterial composition of the gut and which plants wild giraffes had eaten.

Species-specific gut flora in giraffes

The researchers collected samples from three different species, the reticulated giraffe, the Masai giraffe and the northern giraffe, which live around the equator in Kenya. They found that the microbiome was primarily determined by the species they belonged to, not by what they ate.

"We expected that giraffes with similar diets would also have similar microbiomes, but we found no such connection. Instead, we saw that giraffes seem to maintain species-specific microbiomes, even when individuals within the same species may eat completely different sets of plants. This suggests that the microbiome may have an evolutionary component that we do not yet fully understand," says Elin Videvall, researcher at Uppsala University and lead author of the study.

Important for the conservation of endangered giraffes

Geography also played a major role in what they ate. Giraffes of the same species consumed different types of food depending on where they lived. As all three species are endangered, any knowledge of what they eat can be important information, especially when planning which areas are important to preserve to ensure access to nourishment.