VN May 2017

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Mei/May 2017 5
But now it seems that all
is not well in giraffe-land,
with reports emerging
that they may be staring
extinction in the face.
Why? For starters, thanks to modern
molecular genetics, we have just
realised that what we thought was
one species of giraffe is in fact four,
split into between seven and nine
distinct subspecies. That’s a lot more
biodiversity to worry about.
Even more disturbing is the fact that
giraffe populations are collapsing.
Where once they roamed widely across
Africa’s savannas and woodlands, they
now occupy less than half of the
real estate they did a century
ago.
Where they still persist, giraffe
populations are increasingly
sparse and fragmented.
Their total numbers have
fallen by 40% in just the past
two decades, and they have
disappeared entirely from seven
African countries. Among
the most imperilled is the
West African giraffe (Giraffa
camelopardalis peralta), a
subspecies now found only
in Niger. It dwindled to just
It’s time to stand tall for
imperilled giraffes
Bill Laurance, Distinguished Research
Professor and Australian Laureate,
James Cook University
Pardon the pun, but it’s time to stick our necks out for giraffes.
We have mistakenly taken the world’s tallest mammal for
granted, fretting far more about other animals such as rhinos,
elephants and great apes.
Lead Article I Hoofartikel
IUCN Red List confirms: Giraffe are under threat
The iconic giraffe, one of the world’s most recognisable animals and the tallest land mammal, has moved from ‘Least
Concern’ to ‘Vulnerable’ in the newly (end 2016) released International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) Red List
of Threatened Species. Widespread across southern and eastern Africa, with smaller isolated populations in west and
central Africa, new population surveys estimate an overall 36-40% decline in the giraffe population from approximately
151 702 – 163 452 in 1985 to 97 562 in 2015. Of the nine currently recognised subspecies of giraffe, five have decreasing
populations, whilst three are increasing and one is stable. This updated assessment of giraffe as a species was
undertaken by the IUCN Species Survival Commission (SSC) Giraffe & Okapi Specialist Group (GOSG), hosted by Giraffe
Conservation Foundation (GCF) and Zoological Society of London (ZSL).
Recent genetic-based research by GCF, Senckenberg Biodiversity and Climate Change Research Centre and other
partners, suggests that there are four distinct species of giraffe instead of only one, however, the IUCN currently only
recognises giraffe as one species. Should these new genetic findings be confirmed and become widely accepted, this
would likely result in three of the four giraffe species being listed as under considerable threat on the IUCN Red List.
Taxonomy is just one of many gaps that still exist in our overall understanding of giraffe and highlights that they are
indeed Africa’s forgotten megafauna.
(Source:
The current distribution of seven subspecies
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