Giraffes move closer to endangered species protection
August 23, 2019
The tallest living land animal faces 'silent extinction,' one conservation group has said. Some 106 countries backed a CITES protection, paving the way toward regulating international trade in giraffes.
Image: picture-alliance/Anka Agency/G. Lacz
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For the first time, nations moved to protect giraffes as an endangered species on Thursday.
The provisional decision is expected to be endorsed at a plenary next week, according to officials, and the requirement would come into effect 30 days after that.
Some 106 parties to the UN-backed wildlife treaty voted in favor of the giraffe protection motion, while 21 voted against, with seven abstentions. The proposal ultimately overcame objections from some African countries and received praise from conservationists.
Long overshadowed by poaching crises hitting elephants and rhinos, the perils facing giraffes are slowly gaining attention. But for the world's tallest land animal, whose numbers are dwindling, it may not be fast enough.
Image: Getty Images/J.Martinson
A 'silent extinction'
Giraffe numbers have plummeted in recent years, with conservationists warning of the "silent extinction" of the world’s tallest land animal. Just 97,500 now exist in sub-Saharan Africa, falling almost 40 percent since 1985, says the International Union for the Conservation of Nature. Check out this week's eco@africa show to see how giraffes are coming back from the brink of extinction in Niger.
Image: DW/Inga Sieg
'Trophy' animals
These majestic creatures have suffered from disease, habitat loss and illegal hunting for bushmeat, as well as collisions with vehicles and power lines - there are now fewer giraffes than elephants in Africa. Campaigners say giraffes now face additional pressure from "trophy" hunters traveling to Africa to shoot their big-game quarry - these hunters mostly come from the US.
Image: Getty Images/M.Ralston
Not one species – but four?
In 2016, researchers found that there are not just one but four distinct species of giraffe. The research, published in the journal Current Biology, is now being reviewed, but if formally recognised as four separate species, three of those four would suddenly be deemed more seriously threatened on the IUCN's list of endangered animals, hopefully prompting greater conservation efforts.
Image: Getty Images/K.van Weel
How the giraffe got its long neck
Giraffes' necks can be as long as six feet – despite only containing seven vertebrae, the same number as a human's, although a giraffe's are elongated. For blood to reach the brain, the heart must pump it to a height of two meters. Scientists are still trying to solve the mystery of how the giraffe got its neck.
Image: Getty Images/C.De Souza
Arriving with a bump
Pregnancies are long, lasting up to 15 months, and end with the giraffe giving birth standing up – that means their offspring have rather a bumpy welcome into the world, having to endure falling more than five feet to the ground at birth. But baby giraffes are fast learners: they can stand within just 30 minutes of the birth and can run with their mothers only 10 hours after being born.
Image: Getty Images/M.Cardy
Eating around the clock
Giraffes eat most of the time, chewing through hundreds of pounds of leaves each week and must travel miles to find enough food. But its height can make drinking difficult and dangerous. To do so, they must spread their legs and bend down, making them vulnerable to predators. Thankfully, giraffes only need to drink once every several days, as they get most of their water from the plants they eat.
Image: Getty Images/J.Thys
Dining with a view
A giraffe's 21-inch tongue is crucial in helping them pluck leaves from branches–and also helps in the birth process. Giraffes graze on leaves and buds in treetops that few other animals can reach, with acacias a particular favorite.
Image: Getty Images/J.Martinson
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Increasing threats
The Wildlife Conservation Society expressed concern regarding the numerous threats to giraffes that have resulted in a decline in their population, from habitat loss, droughts worsened by climate change, and illegal killings and trade in giraffe body parts.
"So many people are so familiar with giraffes that they think they're abundant," said Susan Lieberman, vice president of international policy at the Wildlife Conservation Society. "And in Southern Africa, they may be doing OK, but giraffes are critically endangered."
Giraffes are particularly at risk in parts of West, Central and East Africa, Lieberman continued.
Human activity threatens thousands of species with extinction: Red List
The International Union for the Conservation of Nature's annual Red List assesses 97,000 species — 27,000 face extinction. Poaching, invasive pests, agriculture and climate change are driving many of them to the brink.
Image: picture-alliance/dpa/WWF
Hope for mountain gorillas
Let's start with the good news. According to the latest Red List update, the number of mountain gorillas has significantly increased. The IUCN has said the number of animals has risen from about 680 a decade ago to more than 1,000 now. Intensive conservation action such as removal of snares has contributed to the rebound of the mountain gorilla, which inhabits the Congo region's jungles.
Image: Reisedoktor/Wikipedia
Whales get a reprieve
Fin whales are now considered vulnerable rather than the more worrisome label of endangered. Their number has roughly doubled since the 1970s, to around 100,000 individuals, according to the IUCN. The situation of gray whales has also been upgraded — from critically endangered to endangered. Bans on commercial whaling have made a real impact on conservation.
Image: picture-alliance/ZUMAPRESS/VW Pics
Dampened euphoria
Yet the IUCN also issued warnings about the consequences of overfishing. For example, 13 percent of grouper species worldwide and 9 percent of the approximately 450 fish species in Lake Malawi in eastern Africa are threatened with extinction. "Depleting fish stocks are a serious concern for food security, particularly for coastal communities in developing countries," the IUCN said.
In a previous Red List update, the Mauritian flying fox — an important pollinator — moved from vulnerable to endangered. The bat population fell by a whopping 50 percent from 2015 to 2016 due largely to government-implemented culling sparked by alleged damage to fruit crops. The megabat species also faces threats from deforestation, illegal hunting and an increase in cyclone activity.
Image: M. D. Parr
Invasive species threaten Australian wildlife
Invasive species are threatening a number of unique Australian reptiles. This grassland earless dragon has shifted from vulnerable to endangered. It often falls prey to feral cats, as well as changes to the intensity and frequency of bushfires. Like most native Australian wildlife, the reptile is adapted to environmental conditions that existed before European settlement.
Image: Will Osborne
A precious species
Taking its name from "The Lord of the Rings" character Smeagol — aka Gollum — the precious stream toad is also on the list of species threatened with extinction. It is listed as vulnerable, largely as a result of expanding tourist resorts and complexes in its Genting Highlands habitat in Malaysia.
Image: Chan Kin Onn
Junk food parrots
The population of keas, New Zealand's Bird of the Year 2017, is declining rapidly, mostly due to tourists who keep feeding the curious parrots junk food. As a result, the birds get used to trying novel food and end up eating poison bait meant to control pests such as rats, stoats, or possums, which destroy up to 60 percent of the birds' nests each year. You can see the connection, can't you?
Image: Imago/imagebroker
No sand eel, no kittiwake
Black-legged kittiwakes rely on certain key prey, like sand eels. But a lack of eels to eat means breeding colonies in the North Atlantic and Pacific are struggling to feed their chicks. Globally, the species is thought to have declined by around 40 percent since the 1970s. The main cause is overfishing and alterations in the ocean due to climate change.
The snowy owl is vulnerable, with recent population estimates much lower than previously thought. Climate change has hit the iconic Arctic bird hard, as it has increased snowmelt and reduced the availability of rodent prey. A quarter of bird species reassessed in the Red List, including the snowy owl, have become more endangered.
Image: Imago/CTK Photo
Reebok namesake in danger
Five species of African antelopes — of which four were previously assessed as least concern — have been declining drastically as a result of poaching, habitat degradation and competition with domestic livestock. One of these is the gray rhebok, for which the Reebok sports brand is named.
Image: UltimateUngulate/Brent Huffman
World's largest antelope in trouble
The world's largest antelope, the giant eland — previously assessed as least concern — is also vulnerable. Its estimated global population is between 12,000 and 14,000 at most, with fewer than 10,000 mature animals. This species is declining due to poaching for bushmeat, human encroachment into protected areas and expansion of agriculture and livestock grazing.
Image: UltimateUngulate/Brent Huffman
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Still, not all African countries were happy about the measure. "We see no reason as to why we should support this decision, because Tanzania has a stable and increasing population of giraffes," said Maurus Msuha, director of wildlife at the Tanzanian Ministry of Natural Resources and Tourism. "Over 50% of our giraffe population is within the Serengeti ecosystem, which is well protected. Why should we then go for this?"
CITES reported that the population of wild giraffes is in fact much lower than that of wild African elephants, and that the proposal was intended to address international trade in giraffes and their parts in particular.
"We're talking about a few tens of thousands of giraffes and we're talking about a few hundreds of thousands of African elephants," said Tom De Meulenaar, chief of scientific services at CITES.
Giraffes face "silent extinction," the Natural Resources Defense Council, a conservation group, said in a statement. The world's largest consumer of giraffe products is the US, according to conservationists.