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.
1First the rhino then the tiger and elephant and now the giraffe
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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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2Giraffes being killed by 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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3The uproar over the 12 year old trophy hunter
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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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4It horrified environmentalists
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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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5Her response was bizarre
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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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