"Giraffes must be listed as endangered, conservationists formally tell US" (The Guardian)

"Conservationists have lodged a formal request for the US government to list giraffes as endangered in a bid to prevent what they call the “silent extinction” of the world’s tallest land animal."

https://www.theguardian.com/en...-22694d2ba3-21859707

Interestingly i worked with julian fennessy and the giraffe conservation foundation for an episode last year , Julian is very pro hunting in the right scenarios and VERY complimentary of the BVC model etc where it works -

This does not add up to me. Giraffe are not a popular trophy for obvious reasons, and they are not heavily poached, to my knowledge. A lot of places I go, there seem to be plenty of them.

Giraffes seem to be doing very well on the various conservancies and game ranches (Nuanetsi, Bubi, Save, etc.) located within Zimbabwe.

quote:

Originally posted by ivan carter:
Interestingly i worked with julian fennessy and the giraffe conservation foundation for an episode last year , Julian is very pro hunting in the right scenarios and VERY complimentary of the BVC model etc where it works -

Conservationists remind me of snakes in the long grass.

If you think about it, it makes perfect sense, from an anti-hunters viewpoint. Many hunters, for reasons they maybe never thought through, will not consider hunting a giraffe. Since there is low demand and many consider them almost as pets, what better place for the anti's to start a program to remove species from the available pool of trophy animals. If you start with the low demand and cute and cuddly critters, there will be less resistance and you can make good progress towards eventually eradicating hunting worldwide. When you start with leopards, lions, etc. you encounter much resistance from organized hunting groups that have funding, then it turns into an expensive public fight that drags through the legal system which devours money and time. Better to fly slightly under the radar and begin with the animals that are at the bottom of the list. We all need to recognize this for what it is, a backdoor way to eliminate hunting.

Anti-hunter agenda; one species at a time.

quote:

Originally posted by lee440:
If you think about it, it makes perfect sense, from an anti-hunters viewpoint. Many hunters, for reasons they maybe never thought through, will not consider hunting a giraffe. Since there is low demand and many consider them almost as pets, what better place for the anti's to start a program to remove species from the available pool of trophy animals. If you start with the low demand and cute and cuddly critters, there will be less resistance and you can make good progress towards eventually eradicating hunting worldwide. When you start with leopards, lions, etc. you encounter much resistance from organized hunting groups that have funding, then it turns into an expensive public fight that drags through the legal system which devours money and time. Better to fly slightly under the radar and begin with the animals that are at the bottom of the list. We all need to recognize this for what it is, a backdoor way to eliminate hunting.

I think Lee nails it with his comments. Additionally, what animal is easier to 'sell' to a clueless public than 'saving giraffes'? It doesn't matter at all that they are hardly hunted by anyone. It doesn't matter that they are widely distributed. What does matter is that a lot of people think they are cute and cuddly and they'll spend some money helping save them, without ever realizing they are being duped by the promoters of the Save the Giraffes campaign. Whether they succeed in getting them uplisted or not, they've found a very desirable client to represent and people will send in their $19 to support The Cause.

And the fund raising continues.

Dave

March '17 Smithsonian mag had an article about it. Just read it. Sounds like a lot of bs again. Quoted numbers something like: 12,800 ten yrs ago, and now only 7,000 or such. Not sure now just where. Around Lake Albert.

George

https://www.nationalgeographic...declared-endangered/


Masai giraffes subspecies declared endangered.

Where Tanzania is concerned the Giraffe, regardless of its genetics has always been a protected species so its dwindling numbers for once cannot be attributed to trophy hunters.

The main factors responsible for their decline are poaching for meat especially in Central Tanzania (Masailand) as the terrain offers easy pickings and the distribution centers are within easy reach - the meat is much sought after, considered by many to be much tastier due to the Giraffe being a browser and not a grazer (similar to Gerenuk).

A second factor is attributed to human conflict related to deforestation of the larger species of the acacia (mainly for charcoal) from which the Giraffe feed off and particularly fond of when the tree bears its highly nutritious pods. The Giraffe are often forced out of these semi-forested areas to move into denser areas where their mobility is hampered and become easy prey for both poachers and Lions, who find it easier to take them down under these conditions.

The Maasai herdsmen are not known to be responsible for the poaching of Giraffe as there is no real conflict in feeding rights between Giraffe (browsers) and their herds of cows (grazers) unless the Maasai have changed their culture to keep up with the times and have turned to poaching as well.

They aren't endangered or threatened in South Africa, ban hunting of them and their numbers will certainly decline......

I forgot to mention that in TZ the Giraffe is protected by law not because of dwindling numbers but because it is the country's National Symbol.