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African giraffes endangered
23/12/2007 10:03 - (SA)
Nairobi - At least six distinct species of giraffe, the world's tallest land animal, may be in existence and some of them are critically endangered, scientists in the United States and Kenya have found.
It had previously been thought that there was only one
species of giraffe ranging across Africa's golden savannahs.
"Some of these giraffe populations number only a few hundred
individuals and need immediate protection," said the study's
lead author, geneticist David Brown of the US-based Wildlife
Conservation Society.
"Lumping all giraffes into one species obscures the reality
that some kinds of giraffe are on the very brink."
The most threatened potential species include the
reticulated giraffe (currently Giraffa camelopardalis
reticulate) in Kenya, Ethiopia and Somalia. Its population was
estimated at around 27 000 until the 1990s, when poaching and
conflicts slashed numbers to just 3 000 individuals.
In west and central Africa, there are thought to be only 160
Nigerian giraffes (Giraffa camelopardalis peralta) left.
But all giraffes - which can grow up to 5.8 metres tall and weigh 2 000kg - were under threat, Brown said in a statement late on Friday, citing an estimated 30% drop in numbers over the past decade.
Classifying what are currently called sub-species as
fully-fledged species would force governments and experts to
re-examine steps to conserve the most at risk animals, he said.
The study is in the latest edition of BMC Biology journal.
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