Tall order to save giraffes as threats to species ignored
GIRAFFES are at risk of extinction with some subspecies now listed as “critically endangered” for the first time.
The latest International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) red list of threatened species has placed the Kordofan and Nubian giraffes just one stage below extinct in the wild, with fewer than 4,650 animals left.
The Reticulated, Thornicroft’s and West African giraffes are also listed as endangered or vulnerable.
Although Masai giraffes are yet to be assessed, numbers have plummeted in recent years and conservationists expect they will soon be added to the red list.
Only the Angolan giraffe, which is found in Botswana, Namibia and Zimbabwe, is out of danger, while numbers of Rothschild are improving after intensive conservation work, and they are now listed as near-threatened.
Dr Julian Fennessy, director of the Giraffe Conservation Foundation, said: “While giraffe are commonly seen on safari, in the media and in zoos, people – including conservationists – are unaware that these majestic animals are undergoing a silent extinction.
“While populations in southern Africa are doing just fine, the world’s tallest animal is under severe pressure in some of its core ranges across East, Central and West Africa. It may come as a shock that three of the currently recognised nine subspecies are now considered ‘critically endangered’ or ‘endangered’, but we have been sounding the alarm for a few years now.”
Just 15 years ago, there were thought to be about 150,000 giraffes in the wild, but since then numbers have slumped by 40 per cent because of habitat loss and poaching.
The IUCN red list features 96,951 species of which 26,840 are under threat of extinction.
Species that have fared worse this year include the North American giant Bolson tortoise. Its status has changed from vulnerable to critically endangered, with populations plummeting 64 per cent in the past 30 years because of habitat loss.
Overfishing has also seen 13 per cent of the world’s grouper species and 9 per cent of Lake Malawi fish facing the possibility of being wiped out.
The titan arum, nicknamed the “corpse flower” for its infamous stench, was also assessed for the first time and has been listed as endangered, with fewer than 1,000 plants left in the wild.
However, some animals are flourishing thanks to ongoing conservation efforts to bring them back from the brink.
The mountain gorilla subspecies has moved from critically endangered to endangered. In 2008, the populations in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Rwanda and Uganda were esti-
‘We have been sounding the alarm for some time now’
mated to be about 680, but 2018 figures show that it has increased to more than 1,000.
The fin whale has gone from endangered to vulnerable following bans on whaling, which have seen the global population roughly double since the Seventies.
The status of the western subpopulation of the grey whale has also improved, moving from critically endangered to endangered. Both species suffered over-exploitation for their blubber, oil and meat.
Cath Lawson, regional manager of African conservation programmes at WWF, said: “The announcement shows that these iconic species are slowly beginning to recover and demonstrates what can be achieved with extraordinary effort and when people make a conscious decision to protect nature.”