Mo Ganji: Reticulated Giraffe | Netzgiraffe | Giraffa reticulata | No. 180/250 from work group 8/99

Mo Ganji reorients his attention toward the reticulated giraffe — a tall savanna-dwelling mammal native to the dry landscapes of East Africa — by letting the single line move toward the animal’s inner structure rather than its distinctive pattern. The line gathers the being into a reduced coherence, allowing presence to emerge without relying on surface geometry or recognizability. In this act of concentration, the line remains open, acknowledging that what is seen is never identical with what is named.

Giraffa reticulata is listed as Endangered (EN) on the IUCN Red List. Historically widespread across northern Kenya, southern Ethiopia and parts of Somalia, the subspecies has experienced steep population declines over recent decades. Numbers have fallen dramatically due to habitat loss and increasing human pressures, leaving remaining populations fragmented and vulnerable.

The principal threats include habitat conversion for agriculture and settlement, poaching, armed conflict, and the breakdown of traditional migration routes. Because reticulated giraffes depend on large, connected landscapes to access seasonal food resources, fragmentation restricts movement and genetic exchange. Conservation efforts now focus on habitat protection, community-based management and restoring connectivity.

Ganji’s single line opens a space in which the giraffe can be encountered beyond height or ornament. It allows attention to rest on a life shaped by reach and continuity, suggesting how even beings defined by expansiveness become precarious once the landscapes that sustain their movement are narrowed beyond return.