Giraffe at risk of extinction: biologists

ONLINE REPORTER

THE giraffe, the national symbol and the tallest land animal, is now at risk of extinction, according to biologists.

The International Union for the Conservation of Nature (IUCN) says giraffe population went down to nearly 40 per cent in just 30 years.

This has alerted scientists and put the animal on the official watch list of threatened and endangered species worldwide.

Data show that in 1985, there were between 151,000 and 163,000 giraffes but in 2015 the number was down to 97,562.

The revelation was made at a biodiversity meeting in Mexico where IUCN increased the threat level for 35 species of animals and plants are in danger of disappearing.

Human activities are blamed for the decline in population of giraffe especially in central and eastern Africa. Scientists have it that giraffes numbers has gone down in seven countries—Burkina Faso, Eritrea, Guinea, Malawi, Mauritania, Nigeria and Senegal.