According to a new report from the Giraffe Conservation Foundation (GCF), the overall giraffe population has declined by over 40 percent in the past 15 years.
"While there are warnings and alarm bells ringing about the imminent extinction of the African elephant as a result of the poaching crisis — a situation not in any way to be minimized — there are an estimated 450,000 African elephants compared to 80,000 giraffe," Kathleen Garrigan, senior communications officer for the African Wildlife Foundation, told Scientific American.
The species is not listed as endangered.
MNN claims the giraffe is in danger because of agriculture taking over their lands and poaching.
Conservationists believe the giraffe could be saved from extinction. When the West African giraffe of Niger became endangered, having a population of only 50 in the mid-1990s, conservationists were able to raise that number to the current population of 400.
The GCF report will be published next year.
