Giraffe population is rapidly declining
The world’s tallest animal, the giraffe, is in serious trouble due to deforestation due to urbanization, poaching attacks and climate change-induced drought. For these reasons, the number of these animals has been rapidly decreasing for a decade. To solve this problem, the US Fish and Wildlife Service has recommended considering various giraffe species as endangered or threatened.
The agency’s director, Martha Williams, said that legal protection for giraffes would work to protect vulnerable species. It would also help fight wildlife trafficking and improve sustainable economic practices. This step would allow giraffes to be more effectively conserved.
Researchers have proposed including three subspecies of the northern giraffe as endangered. These include the West African, Kordofan and Nubian subspecies. The Nubian giraffe population has declined dramatically by about 77 percent compared to 1985. Their number has dropped from 25,653 to just 5,919. In addition, two subspecies in East Africa, the reticulated and Masai giraffes, are being considered for listing as threatened.
Tania Sanerib, director of the Center for Biological Diversity, said that giraffes are quietly disappearing. Protecting them as an endangered species would prevent them from being killed for their skin and other body parts. Poachers are killing many giraffes for their tails, skulls, skins, leather products, bones, and designs carved on their bones. Giraffe numbers are declining due to frequent droughts in the areas where giraffes live in Africa. – Earth.com
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