Sunday 19 June 2016

Gentle giraffes face a silent end


Sir David Attenborough documentary warns of threat to the peaceful African mammals.
 
Giraffes are facing a "silent extinction". Only 90,000 still roam the African plains, far fewer than the endangered African elephant, a David Attenborough documentary warns.

Just 15 years ago there were thought to be about 150,000 giraffes in the wild. Since then, numbers have fallen by 40 per cent.

The new BBC documentary, narrated by Sir David, followed a conservation team as they relocated 20 animals across the Nile in Uganda, to be safe from oil prospectors.

"These gentle giants have been overlooked," said Sir David. "It's well known that African elephants are in trouble, and there are perhaps just over half a million left," said Sir David.

"But what no one realises is there are far fewer giraffes. They are killed for their meat, and their habitats are being destroyed. Time is running out."

http://www.nzherald.co.nz/world/news/article.cfm?c_id=2&objectid=11659072

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