Giraffes On Track to Receive ESA Protections - Will it be too late?

​worldanimalnews.com/giraffes-are-one-step-closer-to-endangered-species-act-protections-after-the-u-s-government-finally-agrees-to-make-a-decision-by-november-2024/

The US Fish & Wildlife Services has agreed to a deadline of November 2024 for a decision on issuing Endangered Species protections to giraffes. In April 2017, several advocacy / conservation groups petitioned the USFWS to protect giraffes but they missed the deadline for a decision which resulted in this lawsuit. It is blaringly obvious that without much needed protections, giraffes will continue to plunge towards inevitable extinction.

Giraffes have been suffering in silence while those with the power to help them drag their feet when it comes to issuing much needed protections. In the past 30 years, giraffe populations have dwindled by over 40% and there are several factors that have put them in that position. Unsurprisingly, all of their perils can be traced back to humanity of course.

Giraffes are faced with habitat loss as a result of continued human growth. As our population grows, we need more land for housing, more land for growing crops, and more land for animal agriculture. This land that we utilize without regard is being stolen from wild animals, relegating them to a smaller range. With continued growth comes continued human conflicts resulting in giraffe deaths. Giraffes are also trafficked for their body parts which are then made in to horrid novelty items like keychains for example while they continue to plunge towards extinction. As I stated, their perils are all as a result of our actions.

I think one of the most frustrating aspects of the USFWS and their ability to issue these much needed protections is their often slow and lackluster effort in doing so. If they're not sued in to action, they rarely seem to do anything productive in saving animals. Why will it take another 2 years to even DECIDE if giraffes deserve to be protected? In those two years while we sit on our thumbs, giraffes will continue to be illegally poached, slaughtered for bush meat, and shot legally by trophy hunters. Their habitat will continue to be decimated and their numbers will continue to plunge. Our policies surrounding issuing these protections need to be reevaluated if we're actually going to commit to conservation. Extinction doesn't wait for us to decided if a species deserves to survive.

In this case, the facts speak for themselves. Giraffe populations have dropped 40% in 30 years. There are only less than 70, 000 adult giraffes remaining in the wild of all varieties. Two species of giraffe are already critically endangered while 2 other species are now listed as vulnerable to extinction. What more information is needed to make this decision? While we procrastinate, giraffe parts will continue to be imported in to our countries for novelty products and giraffes will continue to die. There isn't time for a two year decision process, the time is now to list giraffes under the ESA and issue them much needed protections that will stave off their extinction.

Head to the link at the top of the post for the original story from World Animal News.

HAPPY VEG