The tallest land animals in the world are declining so precipitously that they should be protected under the United States Endangered Species Act, federal wildlife officials said Wednesday.
While giraffes are found in Africa, the proposal would restrict the import of their parts into the United States and would increase conservation funding to help the animals survive.
In 2022, the last year for which international data was available, thousands of giraffe parts entered the United States: trophies, skins, feet, bones, bone carvings and leather pieces. Although trade is not the main reason for giraffes’ population losses, officials say it could add pressure on their numbers. The proposal would prohibit such imports without special permits.
“This action supports giraffe conservation while ensuring the United States does not contribute further to their decline,” Martha Williams, director of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, said in a statement.
About 117,000 wild giraffes are left worldwide, according to the Giraffe Conservation Foundation, down almost 30 percent from the 1980s.
Northern giraffes have declined an estimated 77 percent since 1985, the wildlife service noted, to 5,919 animals from 25,653. The animals have vanished completely from numerous countries in West Africa.
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