A slightly early blog post but I am away in Majorca on a field trip with uni for the next 2 weeks so won't be able to post when I'm there! I will definitely have loads to write about when I get back and am especially excited about finding trapdoor spiders, which I never thought I'd say about a spider! After the saddening death of the last male northern white rhino, it has come to light again that giraffes too might be on a rapid decline as part of a 'silent extinction'. It might surprise you to hear but there are in fact 4 species of giraffe with a total of 9 subspecies. They are; Southern giraffe and it's 2 subspecies Angolan and South African giraffe; Northern giraffe with 3 subspecies Nubian, Kordofan and West African giraffe; Reticulated giraffe and Masai giraffe. Of these subspecies, 5 have decreased, 1 is stable and 3 are increasing shown from surveys over the last 30 years. The overall results are a 36-40% decline and shockingly for the Nubian giraffe, numbers have decreased by 95%. It is shocking how rapidly the numbers of giraffes are declining yet they are a species that many people are unaware of as being listed, 'vulnerable' on IUCN red list of threatened species. It is again because of human activity - notably poaching, war and habitat disturbance. The killing of Kordofan giraffes for a part of their tail in the Democratic Republic of the Congo is used for dowry as a gift from a man to his bride's father when asking to marry her. They may also be used as a sign of good luck. Illegal trade of the marrow of giraffes that is thought to cure AIDs is also a major issue, as is the killing of them for their meat due to the shear amount that one kill would provide.
A solution? Of course there is a solution, but this is difficult to establish due to these ongoing traditions and the need to make money by growing crops; reducing their habitat, or by the shooting and selling of giraffe parts. Habitat management in African, and major conservation efforts by zoos all over the world are in place to help prevent the extinction of this species. Previously in Niger in 1996, the West African giraffe had only 50 left in this country so strict poaching regulations, education about the species and an introduction of a 'micro loan' that allow them to put money towards business were put in place and by 2009, there had been a 400% increase in the population - absolutely incredible considering how close this subspecies came to extinction! This provides so much hope for their future and hopefully all African countries that have giraffes present can take this example and use in their own efforts for conservation. ©
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