Las jirafas, esos animales que cautivan a los niños por su simpatía, se encuentran en peligro de extinción. Según la Unión Internacional para la Conservación de la Naturaleza (UICN) la población de jirafas ha descendido un 40% en las últimas tres décadas, dejando una población de menos de 100 mil jirafas sobre la faz de la Tierra. Las razones de tal disminución son tanto la cacería ilegal de los animales como la destrucción de su hábitat por el avance de la agricultura y la minería en el interior de sus ecosistemas.

En tan solo tres generaciones, el número de jirafas sufrió bajas considerables. En 1985 eran aproximadamente 155 mil, y en 2015 bajaron a 97 mil ejemplares. Aunque su número se mantiene estable y aún crece en determinadas regiones del sur de África, sus poblaciones se han reducido notablemente en el norte de Kenya, en Somalia y la frontera entre Etiopía y Sudán. En estas naciones, asoladas por las hambrunas, las jirafas representan muchos kilos de carne comestible para los hambrientos. El Doctor Julian Fennessy, especialista en jirafas de la UICN, sostiene que hoy en día las jirafas son el alimento de mucha gente. «Es una extinción silenciosa», dice, y guarda silencio.

“These majestic animals are undergoing a silent extinction,” said Julian Fennessy, of the IUCN’s giraffe and okapi group in a statement. “As one of the world’s most iconic animals, it is timely that we stick our neck out for the giraffe before it is too late.”

The IUCN also said that scientists had discovered more than 700 additional bird species to bring the total to more than 11,100. The group says 11% of the newly-discovered animal species are threatened.

Biodiversity, a measure of different plant and animal species in a given area, has been on the decline in recent years across the globe. Scientists have called for humans to change course or risk mass animal extinction that could cause disrupt ecosystems and, eventually, human life.

The International Union for the Conservation of Nature (IUCN), in the latest Red List of threatened species, has moved the giraffe from the ‘least concern’ category to ‘vulnerable’ due to a systematic drop in numbers over the last 30 years.

The IUCN Red List shows that numbers have dropped from about 155 000 in 1985 to 97 000 in 2015 – a drop of more than 30% over three generations. They’ve attributed this to a number of factors, namely loss of habitat, poaching and civil unrest occurring in many regions across Africa.

Despite the population growth experienced in parts of southern Africa, the organization has decided to move the species to the ‘vulnerable to extinction’ category as a result of falling numbers across eastern and central Africa. Dr Julian Fennessy, co-chair of the IUCN giraffe specialist group, says that in areas such as northern Kenya, Somalia, and the border of Ethiopia and South Sudan – areas currently experiencing unrest – the giraffe has become an attractive source of sustenance due to its size and relative ease to hunt. The large animal would be able to feed a large number of people.

He has called the decline in the population a ‘silent extinction’.

There is hope that the decline can be reversed. Chris Ransom from the Zoological Society of London has cited South Africa as an excellent example of wildlife management across different conservation areas. He also believes that with the correct conservation efforts, the giraffe species will be able to continue to survive in the wild.

The first step in this effort is recognizing the problem and moving the giraffe from being a species of ‘least concern’ to ‘vulnerable’.