The Fish and Wildlife Service in the United States of America is pushing for giraffe species to be listed as endangered or threatened.
In just 30 years, populations decreased by 40%.
The Center for Biological Diversity, said it took a lawsuit by in October 2021, for the Fish and Wildlife Service to commit to a deadline to decide whether the species warrants protection, a decision that should have been made back in 2018.
This decision is expected to strengthen efforts to protect declining giraffe populations.
If successful, the Agency’s proposal will implement tighter protection of the West African, Kordofan, and Nubian giraffes, and ensure listing as endangered.
This is due to their rapid decline by 77% since 1985.
Two East African subspecies, the reticulated and Masai giraffes, are to also be listed, as threatened.
Tighter rules are expected to stop the illicit trade of giraffes,hunting and selling of body parts.
Public comments on the proposal close in February 2025.
Nicholas Arrivo, managing attorney for Humane Society International and the Humane Society of the United States, said: “It’s about time that these magnificent animals are close to finally getting the protection they deserve. Giraffes mature slowly and only have a few calves in their lifetime, so they are sensitive to overexploitation. They are rapidly disappearing from our planet with nearly 40% gone in just three decades due to habitat loss, poaching and other threats. Further, the demand for their parts is deplorable, with the United States the top importer and exporter of giraffe parts including their heads, legs, tails and skins. Today makes us hopeful that the outsized contribution by the U.S. to this demand will be reduced.”
Of the 70,000 giraffes left in the wild, just over half of them live in South Africa (37,000).
The Giraffe Conservation Foundation is the only non-governmental organization in the world protecting wild giraffes in Africa