Today, June 21, the World Giraffe Day 2024a day dedicated to these iconic mammals with long and slender necks, which once populated the African savannah and are currently threatened with extinction by human actions such as deforestation, urbanization, poaching and wars.
He World Giraffe Day 2024 It is very important because they play an essential role in maintaining the ecological balance. They are critical to the ecosystem locally, because these ruminants in particular are responsible for seed dispersal and vegetation control.
In the World Giraffe Day 2024 It is essential to know that all species in general are critically endangered, but the species in East Africa are critically endangered. This is mainly due to anthropogenic actions.
Giraffes are large ruminant mammals that live in the African savannas, south of the Sahara. Their height and unique features attract many tourists, but various circumstances, all related to human activities, are gradually driving them out of their natural habitat. To this we must add the poaching of which they are victims.
The problem of lack of genetic diversity is disastrous for any species. When a population becomes very small, the likelihood of closely related individuals reproducing with each other increases, which can lead to a phenomenon called “inbreeding depression” that can lead to the complete collapse of the community due to failed births, severe genetic deformities, etc.
World Giraffe Day 2024: People are your worst nightmare
Let’s remember inside World Giraffe Day 2024, that geographic barriers have restricted their gene flow for more than a millennium. Climate change, deforestation, forest fires and population growth are forcing farmers and ranchers to go further and further to find land.
Urbanization in Africa is as relentless as it is rampant, shrinking ‘wild’ territory. Real estate and agricultural projects are multiplying and gradually encroaching on the space reserved for wildlife.
This human migration disrupts the behavior of wild animals such as giraffes, which are forced to leave their natural habitat and move to communally owned lands, exacerbating human-wildlife conflict.
On the other hand, and although hunting giraffes is illegal (where the poaching of these and other species) there are still some countries such as Kenya and Tanzania where giraffes are captured for their skin, meat and bones, which are used for some tribes to make jewelry or medicine.
Another one of the serious threats that we must take into account in the World Giraffe Day 2024 It is war, which is unfortunately common on African soil. In conflict areas in Somalia, South Sudan, Kenya and even Ethiopia, the giraffe has literally been decimated. It is killed to feed soldiers and to use its parts as currency and barter.
He World Giraffe Day 2024 exists because the consequences of its disappearance are catastrophic. Over the past thirty years, the largest land mammal has lost as much as 40% of its population; in 2015 the number fell below 100,000, while in 1985 it was still 155,000. Of the nine species that live on the African continent, only three are doing relatively well, one is stable and the other five are in steep decline and are on the endangered list. IUCN Red List.