G for giraffe is at stake
“Giraffes are such oddball animals,” said Zoe Muller of the University of Bristol, who has studied giraffes for 20 years. Yet, oddly enough, few scientific studies have been done specifically on giraffes until recently.
Muller’s team reviewed some 400 papers about the “iconic creatures” and learned that giraffes have been misunderstood to say the least. Believed to have no social structure, they are actually a sophisticated social species comparable to elephants and chimpanzees characterized by cooperation and long-lasting relationships.
The females are found to form stable, close-knit groups with other females and their own offspring to help protect their young from predators, and to provide an environment for the older animals to teach the young social and survival skills. Males are known to only associate with their mothers typically dispersing by adulthood and become solitary.
Why the big fuss about giraffes? Simple answer: Their survival is at stake.
Muller claims the expectation that giraffes will always be here is not the case. In the last 30 years, the giraffe population has declined forty percent. Nine countries have declared them extinct, and the long-neck creatures are listed as vulnerable by the International Union for Conservation.
If conservation actions aren’t taken, children learning their ABC’s won’t be able to say “G” for giraffe in 50 to 75 years.