Johannesburg - Dr Noelle Kümpel’s message to the world is clear: stick out your necks for giraffes because the world's tallest animal is vanishing in plain sight.
Last week, the International Union for the Conservation of Nature (IUCN) released its latest Red List, which revealed how the iconic species is undergoing a “silent extinction” with its numbers plummeting by almost 40percent in the past 30 years.
This means there are fewer than 100 000 giraffes left. In Giraffe and okapi: Africa’s forgotten megafauna, Kümpel, the co-chairwoman of the IUCN Species Survival Commission’s giraffe and okapi specialist group, details how poorly studied giraffes have been. They have moved in its latest listing from “least concern” to “vulnerable” to extinction.
The IUCN says all four species of giraffes are under severe pressure in core ranges.It recently passed a key resolution calling for greater awareness efforts to secure the future of giraffes and okapi.
“The socio-political situation is a concern in many countries across their ranges,” says Kümpel.