It is impressive that the world’s tallest and perhaps most exquisite mammal has been so ignored and under-researched by the conservation and scientific community up to now. Taking into consideration the precipitous decrease of giraffe numbers nowadays, it is as well impressive that we’re at the moment celebrating giraffe and also encouraging their preservation on an international scale.
Many people would concur that the giraffe hasn’t ever been raised to the status of iconic wildlife species just as the whale, elephant or panda; however the giraffe is without a doubt worthy of a lot esteem and appreciation.
Truly, a couple of animals are as charming as the giraffe or as stunning to observe in the wilderness. There isn’t any other animal on the planet even slightly identical to the present day long-necked giraffes, which are only seen in sub-Saharan Africa.
The giraffe continues to be under-researched. It’s not harvested, or hunted to be consumed as bush meat not up to now, also it has no horns or a tusk which are appealing to the medicinal communities in the far East. The Giraffe isn’t aggressive to people, it doesn’t compete with domestic animals for food resources since it a browser, and also not a carrier of the communicable diseases.
To paraphrase, they aren’t suggested as a factor in human-wildlife clash as are other large African mammals, and therefore, they aren’t harassed in retribution. As a result no large conservation groups are noisily rallying for giraffe conservation. Regrettably, you must be of some controversy to get that kind of attention, and these “tall blondes” of the animal kingdom tend to stay out of trouble. Giraffes are anything but dubious. Giraffes are quiet and calm, so their decrease goes undetected.
I recently corresponded with Derek Lee and Monica Bond of the Wild Nature Institute. The wildlife biologists are currently studying Masai giraffe demography in the fragmented Tarangire Ecosystem in northern Tanzania. Tanzania supports the largest population of giraffes in the world. Tarangire and Lake Manyara national parks are known to be one of the best places to see huge herds of elephants, populations of tree climbing lions, and a nearly infinite number of termite mounds. However, scientists are only beginning to learn about the Masai giraffe, the national animal of Tanzania and the largest of the nine recognized subspecies.
Deforestation of wildlife habitat for agriculture and poaching for bush meat are the main threats to the giraffe across Africa. However so many people are not aware of the predicament of giraffe that is a signal species of the richness of African savanna ecosystems. Actually Giraffe experts think international numbers have dropped nearly 40 % in the last ten years to approximately 80,000 now.
Thankfully, a year ago, the Worldwide Union for Conservation of Nature’s – IUCN Species Survival Commission identified a brand-new specialist group of the Giraffe – Okapi Specialist Group (GOSG). It is wished that the institution of the GOSG “will assist to attract and also enhance international help for the giraffe and offer the official forum for the enactment of important conservation strategies.
This 21st June, please check out the International Giraffe Day website. This brand-new project released by the Giraffe Conservation Foundation – GCF commemorates the giraffe on lengthiest day of a year, in homage to the mammal having the longest neck in the world.
