A Silent Extinction

There are many giraffes in Uganda

reasons for giraffes’

disappearance. One is
Giraffes are the tallest animals on Earth
habitat loss. As Africa’s
and one of the most popular. Because people
human population
frequently see them in zoos and on safaris, they
increases, more of the land
assume giraffes are doing fine. In the wild, however,
where giraffes used to live
their numbers have declined almost 40 percent in the

Credits: Page 2: MELISSA GROO/National Geographic Image Collection; page 3: © Tui De Roy/Minden Pictures; page 4: Jennifer Hart/Alamy Stock Photo
is being used for farming,
past thirty years—from more than 150,000 in 1985 to just
mining, forestry, and
over 97,000 in 2015. In seven African countries, giraffes
other human activities.
have vanished completely. Their decline is often referred
Illegal killing, known as
to as a silent extinction.
poaching, is also a major
Giraffe Range, Then and Now problem. People kill
thousands of giraffes
each year for their meat
and other body parts.

In 2017, five
environmental groups
Credit: Courtesy of Giraffe Conservation Foundation and San Diego Zoo Global petitioned the United
States Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS) to list giraffes
as either endangered or threatened under the Endangered
Species Act (ESA). Endangered means a species is at risk of

89%
decline in range area
becoming extinct over all or most of its range. Threatened
means the species is likely to become endangered within
the foreseeable future. In April 2019, the USFWS moved to
historic range step two in the process: performing an in-depth review of
EUROPE
(circa 1700s) ASIA
threats to giraffes. If the USFWS concludes that giraffes are
2019 range AFRICA
under threat of extinction, the species will join more than
1,600 other plants and animals protected by the ESA.

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 When an animal is listed under the ESA, the U.S. where giraffes used to live. Money from the U.S.
government protects that species and its habitat and government could help protect giraffe habitat in Africa.
prepares a recovery plan. But what if the animal doesn’t
Finally, designating giraffes as an endangered species
live in the United States? It might seem strange to include
draws international attention to their declining numbers.
an animal on the list that lives on a distant continent, but
Protecting other animals—such as the Asian elephant and
the USFWS has done so many times before, sometimes
white rhinoceros—improved international conservation
with great success. The agency can’t offer all the protections
efforts. Adding giraffes to the list encourages other nations
it does to U.S. wildlife, but there are still ways the ESA
to do more to protect them as well. It may end their silent
might help protect giraffes in Africa.
extinction and save one of the world’s favorite animals.
First, including giraffes under the act can decrease
U.S. imports of giraffe products. More than twenty-one Return of the Rhino

thousand giraffe bone carvings and six thousand bones The ESA’s goal is to restore each listed species to a healthy
and bone pieces have been brought into the United States population level. Many non-U.S. animals have gained ESA protection:
giant pandas, elephants, tigers, and more. The white rhinoceros is a
over the past decade. Giraffe bone is being used in gun
great example of how the ESA helps. When first listed as endangered,
and knife handles, for instance, and the market is so far- Africa’s white rhinoceros was nearly extinct. Only about one hundred
reaching that Americans could be buying products made animals survived in the wild. Once the white rhinoceros was added
with giraffe bone without even knowing it. If giraffes were to the endangered species list, the USFWS funded a wide range of
listed under the ESA, the U.S. government would greatly conservation activities, including anti-poaching programs, habitat
management, wildlife surveys, public awareness campaigns, and more.
limit the amounts and types of these giraffe products
Now there are more than twenty thousand white rhinoceroses!
Do You Know? being imported.
World Giraffe Day is June 21! This date This mother and calf
Listing giraffes live on a game reserve
was set aside by the Giraffe Conservation in South Africa.
Foundation to celebrate giraffes and
also allows the
raise funds and awareness for United States to
giraffe research. provide financial
assistance to
countries where
these animals live.
People have moved
into many places
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