24 December 2007
Addis Ababa — At least six distinct species of giraffe, including reticulated giraffe (currently Giraffa camelopardalis reticulate), the world's tallest land animal may be in existence - with some critically endangered- in Ethiopia, Kenya and Somalia, US and Kenyan scietists found.
Putting it as the most threatened potential species, the study discovered that poaching and conflicts slashed numbers to just 3,000 individuals from its population, estimated at around 27,000 until the1990s.
"Some of these giraffe populations number only a few hundred individuals and need immediate protection," David Brown of the U.S.-based Wildlife Conservation, who is the study's lead author said in a statement issued on Friday.
"Lumping all giraffes into one species obscures the reality that some kinds of giraffe are on the very brink." In west and central Africa too, there are thought to be only 160 Nigerian giraffes (Giraffa camelopardalis peralta) left.
But all giraffes -- which can grow up to 19ft (5.8 metres) tall and weigh 4,400lbs (2,000kg) -- were under threat, Brown id.
According to the genetist, classifying what are currently called sub-species as fully-fledged species would force governments and experts to re-examine steps to conserve the most at risk animals.
The study is in the latest edition of BMC Biology journal.
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