Giraffes face extinction after population drops 40 percent over last 15 years

Giraffe numbers are decreasing across Africa due to increased levels of poaching and habitat loss caused by human population growth, according to wildlife experts.

Giraffa camelopardalis has long been listed as a "least concern" on the International Union for Conservation of Nature, but that could change as the species lost 40 percent of its population, according to The Independent.

Giraffe Conservation Foundation's (GCF) Executive Director and Conservation Scientist Dr Julian Fennessy told The Independent: "Giraffe numbers across their range are plummeting with a few exceptions."

The overall number of giraffes has fallen by 40 percent in the last 15 years, reducing the 140,000 giraffe population in Africa to fewer than 80,000.

"It's a silent extinction," Dr. Julian Fennessy, Executive Director of the Namibian-based Giraffe Conservation Research group and a leading wildlife scientist with 16 years of experience, told ABC News.

Fennessy says that humans have constantly increased the proportion of land used for agriculture, leading to loss of habitat and fragmentation. Poaching and hunting of giraffes has also increased, owing to a belief in some countries that eating some parts of giraffe can help cure HIV- AIDS.

According to Zoe Muller of the Rothschild Giraffe Project, hats, shoes, belts and bats are also made by using hides of the animal. As per wildlife experts, less than 700 of the Rothschild's giraffe subspecies are distributed between Kenya and Uganda.

"Giraffes are everywhere. Look at kids' books, which are full of giraffes. They're always in zoo collections. They're easily visible, so you don't think we have to worry about them", says David O'Connor, research coordinator with the San Diego Zoo's Institute for Conservation Research.

The species' endangered classification will be reassessed next year, The Independent reported.