Giraffe populations have declined by 40 percent in 30 years in a largely unreported conservation and welfare crisis driven by habitat loss and poaching.
Giraffe population decline represents a conservation crisis that has received far less attention than other charismatic megafauna despite dramatic population losses. Individual giraffes face welfare risks from snaring poaching and habitat encroachment by agriculture. Snare entanglement causes severe leg wounds that impair mobility and feeding in animals that need to access treetops. Population fragmentation creates inbreeding stress in small isolated herds.