GIRAFFES: AFRICA'S GENTLE GIANTS

BBC Natural World, AGB Films & Gripping Films

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Director of Photography

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"This was stirring stuff indeed. Not just because of the difficulty of capturing and transporting these large-yet-delicate animals but also for such endearingly odd sights as a truckload of giraffes taking a ferry ride across a river. But the biggest achievement of this film was its reminder of just how neglected even a universally recognisable animal like the giraffe can be. An animal so gentle the danger of extinction looms without our even noticing. Happily, with the Fennessys on the case, that seems a more remote prospect now." The Telegraph

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Dr Julian Fennessy is the director of conservation for the Giraffe Conservation Foundation and coordinates giraffe conservation efforts all over Africa. We travelled to Julian's home in Namibia, and had an fantastic time with his family at home and out in the bush filming with giraffe. We had a once in a life time experience, travelling to Hoanib valley, filming giraffe under the stars, and to the rugged skeleton coast. The main story line in the film was a translocation operation in Uganda's Murchison Falls National Park. The government had allowed oil drilling to begin the reserve, and so it was decided to ensure the survival of giraffe in the park, a small population should be moved across the river to a new part of the reserve, far away from the drilling. It was an epic mission and huge team effort, which involved darting and collaring many giraffes and moving them in a truck, over land and across the river Nile.