Giraffes. A silent extinction

[Guest CzarnaWisnia]

Giraffes threatened by extinction, put on watch list

While many worry about the status of elephants, they are not as rare as giraffes

The giraffe, the tallest land animal, is now at risk of extinction, biologists say.

Because the giraffe population has declined by nearly 40 per cent in just 30 years, scientists put it on the official watch list of threatened and endangered species worldwide, calling it "vulnerable." That's two steps up the danger ladder from its previous designation of being a species of least concern.

In 1985, there were between 151,000 and 163,000 giraffes, but in 2015 the number was down to 97,562, according to the International Union for the Conservation of Nature (IUCN).

At a biodiversity meeting Wednesday in Mexico, the IUCN increased the threat level for 35 species and lowered the threat level for seven on its Red List of threatened species, considered by scientists the official list of what animals and plants are in danger of disappearing.

The giraffe is the only mammal with a changed status on the list this year. Scientists blame habitat loss.

Not just about elephants

While everyone worries about elephants, Earth has four times as many pachyderms as giraffes, said Julian Fennessy and Noelle Kumpel, co-chairs of the specialty group of biologists that put the giraffe on the IUCN Red List. They both called what's happening to giraffes a "silent extinction."

"Everyone assumes giraffes are everywhere," said Fennessy, co-director of the Giraffe Conservation Foundation.

But they're not, Fennessy said. Until recently, biologists hadn't done a good job assessing giraffes' numbers and where they can be found, and they have been lumped into one broad species instead of nine separate subspecies.

"There's a strong tendency to think that familiar species (such as giraffes, chimps, etc.) must be okay because they are familiar and we see them in zoos," said Duke University conservation biologist Stuart Pimm, who wasn't part of the work and has criticized the IUCN for not putting enough species on the threat list. "This is dangerous."

Fennessy blamed shrinking living space as the main culprit in the declining giraffe population, worsened by poaching and disease. People are moving into giraffe areas especially in central and eastern Africa. Giraffe numbers are plunging most in central and eastern Africa and are being offset by increases in southern Africa, he said.

http://www.cbc.ca/news/technology/giraffes-iucn-vulnerable-extinction-watchlist-1.3886864

[Jazzy Jan]

 Such graceful, unique and beautiful animals.  Hope that everything possible will be done to save them. 

[nightcutter]

I love giraffes. I love most animals. Even ugly spiky beetles. I'm an animal softie. 

 

[IsaacHarris]

NO!

 

They are one of my favorite animals on this Earth. I swear, humans are the fucking worst; poaching in some cases, brings revenue to certain countries, but at the expense of wiping out an entire species? UGH.

[Sky Fits Heaven]

Wow! Giraffe is such a popular animal that I wouldn't even guess about something like this! I hope we can save them!

[ULIZOS]

Well, that's what they get for being so different. 

[Django]

The only ones who really deserve extinction are humans. So unfair. 

[ULIZOS]

I don't deserve extinction. 

[runa]

I remember someone here that I won't name said he doesn't mind when animals get extinct. I was like WTF ??? 

[Nick]

Only time saw giraffes in person was when visiting Bronx zoo. They're really buetiful and peaceful animals. 

[Gaudet]

Poachers should be extincted, not giraffes or any animal for that matter.

 

@runa is that person still around or is he part of the recent mass migration? I hope the latter.

[LVX]

1 hour ago, pjcowley said:

Poachers should be extincted, not giraffes or any animal for that matter.

This. Sometimes I just hate humans.

[runa]

4 hours ago, pjcowley said:

 

@runa is that person still around or is he part of the recent mass migration? I hope the latter.

Oh no... he's still around. To each his own, I guess.

[horn]

One of the world's beat 50 restaurant - Carnivore in Nairobi Kenya, they serve giraffe meat (raised on ranch).

But that was around early 2000.

Not sure about now.

 

[Martin B.]

Such a beautiful animal. 😭

[Nick]

4 hours ago, horn said:

One of the world's beat 50 restaurant - Carnivore in Nairobi Kenya, they serve giraffe meat (raised on ranch).

But that was around early 2000.

Not sure about now.

 

Don't know if giraffes are part of bush meat that's smuggled in Africa, but underground bush meat trade still going very strong.

Just wonder how global organizations can better help feed people in poor and disadvantaged regions while helping to stop extinction of animals. 

[5iVe Elements]

On 12/10/2016 at 0:49 PM, runa said:

I remember someone here that I won't name said he doesn't mind when animals get extinct. I was like WTF ??? 

Horrible