Fewer than 100k giraffes remain, as trophy hunters push them to extinction
Giraffes across Africa are steadily being wiped out by trophy hunters.
702’s John Perlman speaks with Dr Don Pinnock, an environmental journalist at Daily Maverick.
Listen below:
According to the Wildlife & Conservation Foundation, nearly 1,800 giraffe trophies were shipped around the world in 2023.
In the last 30 years, the giraffe population has dropped by 40%, meaning they could be hunted out of existence before long.
Fewer than 100,000 giraffes remain across the African continent.
Pinnock says it feels like giraffes are still plentiful because they are thriving in game parks where hunting is prohibited.
However, he says the giraffes not in these parks are being hunted and killed relentlessly.
“There are far fewer giraffes than elephants.”
- Dr Don Pinnock, environmental journalist - Daily Maverick
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He adds that it is difficult to stop this trophy hunting as there are very wealthy organisations supporting it.
“Will they just stop hunting when they run out of animals?”
- Dr Don Pinnock, environmental journalist - Daily Maverick
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