Giraffes are undergoing what scientists are calling a "silent extinction." Trophy hunters, bush meat poachers, bone traders, wildlife traffickers (for bones, hides, and tails), and consumers are driving these iconic animals to brink.
In the last 30 years, Africa's giraffe population has plummeted almost 40 percent. Today, there are roughly just 97,000 individuals.
That's why the International Fund for Animal Welfare (IFAW) and four other major wildlife conservation groups have teamed up to petition the U.S. government to list the giraffe as Endangered on the U.S. Endangered Species Act (ESA).
The U.S. plays a major role in the decline of giraffes. We are the largest importer of hunting trophies in the world and a major importer of giraffe trophies, skins, and other parts. Listing the species on the ESA will help end our country's outsized role in their destruction.
That is where you come in. We need your help to make sure United States Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS) knows that you care about giraffes and other wildlife species.
Sign the petition today and urge the USFWS to protect giraffes under the Endangered Species Act before it is too late.
Dear Chief Van Norman,
Giraffes are one of the most iconic and distinctive species in the world. Yet, according to the latest assessment conducted by the International Union for the Conservation of Nature (IUCN), giraffes have lost almost 40 percent of their populations in the last 30 years. With less than 100,000 animals left in the wild, there are now fewer giraffes than African elephants.
Giraffes are being depleted due to habitat loss and fragmentation, and poaching for bushmeat, bones, and tail hair. In addition, giraffes are the subject of a significant amount of international trade in their bone carvings and trophies. In the fact, the U.S. is guilty of being a substantial part of that trade. According to the petition to list them as Endangered under the Endangered Species Act (ESA) by the International Fund for Animal Welfare, Center for Biological Diversity, Humane Society International, Humane Society of the United States and Natural Resources Defense Council, the U.S. has imported more than 21,000 giraffe bone carvings, 3,000 skin pieces, and more than 3,700 hunting trophies in the last decade alone.
Giraffes need to be protected for future generations to see. Losing them would be a devastating loss to Earth’s biodiversity. In light of the rapid loss of giraffes in the last few decades and the continued presence of threats, I urge the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service to list giraffes as Endangered under the ESA.
[Your Comment]
Thank you,
[Your Name]
