Populations of the
world's tallest land creature fell to about 98,000 from an estimated
152,000-163,000 in 1985, according to the List compiled by the International
Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN). The Red List rated the
giraffe "vulnerable" to extinction on current trends for the first
time, against a previous rating of "least concern". It said the
plunge in numbers in large parts of sub-Saharan Africa had gone largely
unnoticed. "Whilst giraffes
are commonly seen on safari, in the media and in zoos, people – including
conservationists – are unaware that these majestic animals are undergoing a
silent extinction," Julian Fennessy, an IUCN giraffe specialist, said in a
statement. Giraffes are at risk
from the expansion of farmland to feed a rising human population and from
killings for their meat, often in areas of conflict such as South Sudan,
according to the IUCN, which groups scientists, governments and activists. "People are competing
for fewer and fewer resources and the animals are worse off ... especially with
civil strife," Craig Hilton-Taylor, head of the Red List, told Reuters.
Drought and climate change are aggravating factors, he said. Among other changes on
the list, the African gray parrot - famed for its skill in mimicking human
speech - was rated endangered, one step worse than its earlier category as
vulnerable. Trapping for the pet trade has driven down numbers. The list also found
that 11 percent of more than 700 other species of bird newly assessed were at
risk of extinction, such as the Antioquia wren in Colombia, which is under
threat from a hydro-electric dam. A few were recovering
against the trend - conservation efforts had reduced threats for birds including
the Azores bullfinch, St Helena plover and Seychelles white-eye. The Red List, the main
global authority on risks to animals and plants, said 24,307 of 85,604 species
assessed in recent decades were in danger of extinction. UN studies say that
man-made threats, led by the loss of natural habitats, may herald the worst
extinction crisis since the dinosaurs were wiped out 65 million years ago.