First it was the black rhino to go extinct, then it was the African Northern white Rhino with Sudan the last male dying last month from age-related disease. The exotic and large animals of this planet once a regular and common feature in their habitat are slowly dwindling in numbers.
The tiger is one of the animals on the endangered species list and now it is the Giraffes turn whose population in Saharan Africa has seen a huge 40% drop in the last 30 years and all because of American trophy hunters.
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Poachers don’t usually kill that many giraffes and it is always elephants and rhinos on their most wanted hit list for ivory, but Giraffes are rampantly being killed all because some idiot wants to pose with the head of a dead animal.
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In August there was a huge uproar over a 12 year old girl Aryanna Gourdin posing with the lifeless head of a dead Giraffe which she had killed. It ends up causing a media storm both for and against Gourdin.
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While several lashed out at her mindless trophy which horrified environmentalists and conservationists, she instead chalked up 50,000 social media fans that actually applauded her disgusting hobby. The young hunter did not just post photographs of the giraffe head but she also posed with a skinned head of the animal, a bison, a black bear, antelope and a dead zebra too. So much for conservation.
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Gourdin’s response to the criticism was bizarre and reflected a warped sense of thinking. She was quoted as saying “Although there are flaws in the current system, (poachers posing as ethical hunters for example), trophy hunting remains the only effective way to obtain money for conservation efforts,” It doesn’t get more stupid than this because if you are into conservation of flora and fauna, you don’t exactly kill even one specimen to prove a point.
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Environmentalists feel that lack of Government regulation among such people who kill defenseless animals just to pose with a dead head of one is what is reducing the wildlife of Africa.
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Only 97,500 giraffes, the world’s tallest animal remain and now environmentalists are insisting that the US Government classify Giraffes as an endangered species to prevent their extinction which is being done silently.
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There is a regular flow of dead animal products into America. 21,402 giraffe bone carvings were import5ed into the USA till now. Data has also revealed 3,008 skins and 3,744 different hunting trophies in the past ten years. All of these souvenirs at the expense of the lives of Giraffes. Incidentally, it is Americans who make up the largest number of giraffe trophy hunters in Africa.
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The recreational hunting is also reducing the habitat of the Giraffes. Other factors contributing to the slow reduction of their population is poaching, power lines and accidents with vehicles.
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If the USA government classifies Giraffes as an endangered species, then hunters from the US travelling to Africa would have to justify their hunt is related to efforts of conservation rather than for just posing with a trip after a senseless killing.
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The biggest problem leading to this dangerous figure concerning giraffes is that the issue has been overshadowed because of elephant and rhino poaching. In a quest to save the rhino and elephant, conservations and environmentalist have not noticed the same dangers stalking Giraffe whose numbers are slowly dwindling.
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The serious threat to the Giraffe has gone largely unnoticed and officials were shocked to realize the new census of Giraffe that now number less than elephants roaming the wilds of Africa.
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According to Jeff Flocken the North American regional director of the International Fund for Animal Welfare, “When I was doing research on giraffes in Kenya a few years ago, they were quite abundant and no one questioned that they were doing well, only recently have we looked at them critically and seen this huge drop, which has been a shock to the conservation community. This is an iconic animal and it’s in deep trouble.”
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Focus has again regained ground on the Giraffe after trophy hunters like twelve year old Aryanna Gourdin have started posing with giraffe heads on social media. The long neck graceful creatures have now got authorities concerned and they certainly need saving even more than elephants.
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The sad thing is no International or US law protects Giraffes from being killed for trade. Humane Society Specialist Masha Kalinina said that “It is clearly time to change this. As the largest importer of trophies in the world, the role of the United States in the decline of this species is undeniable, and we must do our part to protect these animals.”
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