Sources: NRDC
This week, conservation groups including the NRDC, Center for Biological Diversity, Humane Society International and International Fund for Animal Welfare petitioned to list giraffes as endangered to help protect their vulnerable populations.
Protecting giraffes under the U.S. Endangered Species Act would help limit imports and exports of giraffe products and might help reduce trophy hunting of the animal.
Giraffe populations have declined by 40 percent over the last three decades for a number of reasons, including hunting, habitat destruction, and a rise in trade of giraffe bone carvings.
Their slow and steady decline over the years has been referred to as a “silent extinction” because even conservation groups hadn’t realized giraffe numbers were dropping.
Read full story at: NRDC