Giraffes have been overlooked in endangered species protection programmes for just a little too long. This is precisely why they have recently been put on the infamous red list of species, threatened with extinction. Not all giraffes are threatened with extinction, however. But there are two subspecies of giraffes that were classified as ‘seriously endangered’ for the first time in the latest report of the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN). This is the organisation that maintains the lists of the world’s most endangered species.
Vulnerable status
The IUCN has announced that they have moved the giraffe from the ‘minor’ list to the list of ‘vulnerable’ status within their system, known as the red list of endangered species. The last steps after ‘vulnerable’ are ‘endangered’, ‘seriously endangered’, ‘extinct in the wild’ and ‘extinct’. Therefore, if we do not intervene, giraffes in the wild will become extinct in the medium term.
Subspecies
There are a total of nine subspecies of giraffes. Five of these subspecies are now decreasing in number, while two subspecies are doing well and are growing in number. The other two remain stable, according to the New York Times. Although the Cordofan giraffe and the Nubian giraffe are now seriously threatened, the West African giraffe and the Rothschild giraffe are doing very well as subspecies and are growing in number. Another species that lives in the horn of Africa, the Somali giraffe, is now considered endangered.
Source: wallpapersimagesNot taken seriously
Giraffes have not been taken so seriously by animal protection organisations, despite their numbers steadily declining in recent years. This new classification is therefore no surprise for some animal protectionists. The call for help for rhinoceroses and elephants, for example, has done a lot of good in recent years. The government’s intervention in Niger has also contributed to a growing number of 50 to 400 giraffes in the country.
To express the difference in numbers, The Guardian has published a report by Damian Carrington, which describes that the number of giraffes in the world has decreased from 157,000 to 97,500 since 1985. That’s almost 40 percent. In 7 countries where the giraffe originally lived, it has already completely disappeared: Eritrea, Guinea, Burkina Faso, Nigeria, Malawi, Mauritania and Senegal.
Source: UnsplashHuman Cause
As is almost always the case with the extinction of animals and plants, humans are the cause. Urbanisation, poaching, illegal hunting and social unrest in parts of Africa are the growing dangers to the species. The biggest concern is that the world’s tallest land animal is losing its original habitat. This is mainly because that land is now used for agriculture, mining or construction. Stopping this is an almost impossible task because it will undermine economic growth and people’s livelihoods.
In addition, there are villagers who hunt the animals to eat the meat during famines or because they own the animal’s tail, as it is seen as a status symbol in some cultures. It can sometimes even be used as a dowry, according to reports by the National Geographic reporter Jani Actman.
