GIRAFFE EXTINTION THREATS (Syllabus: GS Paper 3 – Env and Eco)

Context: A recent study (Global Change Biology) highlights the five biggest threats that could lead to the extinction of giraffes.

• Giraffes are the world’s tallest mammals and an African icon, but they are also vulnerable to extinction.
• Giraffe populations have declined by 40 per cent in the last 30 years, and there are now fewer than 70,000 mature individuals left in the wild.

Key Highlights of Study

• The study used data from more than 3,100 giraffes identified over eight years in an unfenced 4,500km² area of the Tarangire ecosystem in Tanzania.
• Giraffes need large areas of savanna with abundant native bushes and trees to feed on. 
• The biggest threat to giraffes is the degradation, fragmentation and loss of their habitats through human activities such as farming and human settlement expansion.
• Habitat loss outside protected areas is the main reason for the recent decline in giraffe numbers. 
• Insufficient Law Enforcement: Another major threat to giraffes is illegal hunting (poaching) for bushmeat markets. This is usually controlled by international criminal syndicates.
• Ecological changes: Giraffes are human-caused ecological changes that affect their food availability and mobility. 
• These changes include deforestation of savannas for fuelwood and charcoal production, mining activity, and road and pipeline building.
• Climate change: Climate change from human-caused carbon dioxide pollution is forecast to increase temperatures and rainfall in many African savanna areas.

Giraffes

• Giraffes are exotic species to India and are conserved under captivity.
• The British brought northern giraffes (Giraffa Camelopardalis) from their African colonies to India 150 years ago.
• Now giraffes in India comprise a captive population of 29 giraffes in 11 zoos across the country.
• A recent study at Kolkata Zoological Garden shows that these giraffes may belong to different varieties of species.

o Nubian giraffes -  IUCN status - Critically Endangered

o Rothschild giraffe - IUCN status - Endangered