Africa lost 90% of its giraffes in just one year

The Giraffe Conservation Fund (GCF) has just warned of the risk of "silent extinction" for giraffes, with a decline of up to 90% in just one year across Africa. Of these, the northern giraffe is the most severely affected, with only more than 7,000 left in the wild.

The GCF’s annual report, released on World Giraffe Day on June 21, said that giraffe numbers have declined sharply over the past 35 years, with the population having fallen by 30% to around 117,000 in the wild. Notably, the decline accelerated dramatically in the past year, reaching 90%.

Giraffes were moved up the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) Red List from Least Concern to Vulnerable in 2016. The GCF claims the report is evidence that giraffes should be moved up to a higher conservation priority, with three of the four subspecies now listed as “Endangered or Vulnerable”.

“These new data call for an urgent reassessment of giraffes on the IUCN Red List and renewed attention from international agreements such as the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES). Each species deserves its own protection – a blanket approach will not save them,” said Dr Julian Fennessy, GCF’s director of conservation.

Threats to giraffe populations vary depending on their distribution, but primarily include habitat loss and fragmentation due to agricultural expansion, human settlement, and infrastructure development. These threats reduce access to food and water, limit genetic diversity, and increase the likelihood of human-wildlife conflict in general.

Giraffes are also hunted for their meat, skin, and tail, and even their bones, which are traditionally used as medicines and amulets.

Since 2014, June 21 has been chosen as World Giraffe Day with the aim of raising awareness about the risk of "silent extinction" for this extremely special-shaped animal species.