Giraffes Are One Step Closer To Receiving Vital Endangered Species Act Protections

In response to a petition and subsequent lawsuit by conservation and animal protection organizations, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS) has proposed listing four giraffe species under the Endangered Species Act.

The Center for Biological Diversity, Humane Society International, and the Humane Society of the United States first petitioned for these protections in April 2017. However, it wasn’t until a lawsuit in October 2021 that USFWS agreed to a deadline for determining whether these species warrant protection — a decision that, by law, should have been made back in 2018.

“These gentle giants are suffering a silent extinction, and Endangered Species Act safeguards will curb U.S. imports of giraffe skins and other body parts,” said Tanya Sanerib, international legal director at the Center for Biological Diversity. “The proposed protections are good news for giraffes, but it’s tragic that it took seven years to get here. U.S. officials should be racing like a cheetah to fight the global extinction crisis, but they’re actually moving at a snail’s pace to protect imperiled wildlife.”

With fewer than 69,000 mature individuals remaining in the wild, giraffe populations have dropped nearly 40% since the 80’s because of habitat loss, civil unrest, poaching, and human-caused habitat changes. The international trade in bone carvings, skins, and trophies puts additional pressure on these iconic animals. The proposed listing recognizes four species of giraffe, designating the northern giraffe as endangered, two eastern species as threatened, and listing the southern species under the similarity of appearance provision.

“It’s about time that these magnificent animals are close to finally getting the protections they deserve. Giraffes mature slowly and only have a few calves in their lifetime, so they are sensitive to overexploitation,” said Nicholas Arrivo, managing attorney for Humane Society International and the Humane Society of the United States.

“They are rapidly disappearing from our planet, with nearly 40% gone in just three decades due to habitat loss, poaching, and other threats,” continued Arrivo. “Further, the demand for their parts is deplorable, with the United States being the top importer and exporter of giraffe parts, including their heads, legs, tails, and skins. The decision last week makes us hopeful that the outsized contribution by the U.S. to this demand will be reduced.”

The International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) assessed giraffes as “vulnerable” to extinction in 2016 and classified the northern Kordofan and Nubian giraffe subspecies as “critically endangered” in 2018, and the eastern reticulated and Masai subspecies as “endangered” in 2018 and 2019.

In 2019, parties to the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species (CITES) decided to regulate international trade in giraffes by requiring export permits. This decision also marked the first opportunity to assess the global trade of giraffe parts and products, which had been globally unmonitored prior to this listing. Because these protections do not completely stop the giraffe trade, and due to the species’ decline, conservation safeguards are crucial for importing countries, such as the United States, that create demand for giraffe parts.

Last week’s decision has initiated a 90-day comment period, inviting input and feedback. A final determination on the listing is expected to be reached within the next year.