ENDANGERED SPECIES ACT PROFILE

PROTECTION STATUS: Not listed

PETITIONED: 2017

RANGE: Fragmented habitats scattered throughout sub-Saharan Africa

THREATS: Severe habitat loss and fragmentation, hunting and poaching, disease, and more

POPULATION TREND: Giraffes once occupied much of the savannah and savannah woodlands of Africa. Today the species only retains a fraction of that expansive range. According to the IUCN's 2016 estimate, the giraffe has undergone a 36 to 40 percent population decline over the past 30 years. Today roughly 97,500 giraffes remain in Africa — compared to the 150,000-plus giraffes recorded in Africa in 1985 or within the last three generations.

Giraffe photo by Brett Hartl, Center for Biological Diversity