He was made a Doctor of Zoology in 1902, teaching at the Agricultural secondary school in Bologna and at the University of Ferrara.

In the first two decades of the twentieth century Ghigi, Erminio Sipari and Pietro Romualdo Pirotta championed the cause of a national park in the Abruzzo Appennines, and they succeeded in causing the creation of the National Park of Abruzzo, established as a private initiative and inaugurated on 9 September 1922 before obtaining government recognition.

In 1933 he founded the Zoology Laboratory, then geared towards hunting, now called the National Institute for Wildlife.

In 1938 Ghigi's name appeared among Italian scientists and intellectuals supporting the Fascist racial laws.

He was elected a deputy of the Kingdom of Italy in the XXIV legislature, and on 6 February 1943 he was appointed senator.