野生长颈鹿正遭受“无声灭绝”

野生长颈鹿正遭受“无声灭绝”

Earth's tallest animal is in deep trouble. Wild giraffe populations are plummeting due to poaching and habitat loss, with survey data showing the mammals' numbers have fallen more than 40 percent over the last 30 years. And unlike the well-known plight of gorillas, elephants, rhinos and other disappearing African icons, the decline of these serene giants has gone largely unnoticed.

地球上最高的动物深陷困境。由于偷猎和栖息地的丧失，野生长颈鹿的数量急剧下降。调查数据显示，在过去30年里，野生长颈鹿的数量下降了40%以上。与众所周知的大猩猩、大象、犀牛和其他正在消失的非洲标志性动物所处的困境不同，这些安详的庞然大物的衰落在很大程度上没有引起人们的注意。

Fewer than 97,000 giraffes are left in the wild, according to the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN), which has listed the animals as 'Vulnerable' on its Red List of Threatened Species. (Photo: Sumarie Slabber [CC BY-ND 2.0]/Flickr)

The overall giraffe population pales in comparison to African elephants, for example, which number around 450,000 but whose decline has drawn closer study and wider publicity. That contrast isn't meant to diminish the real danger facing elephants, but it does highlight what Namibia-based Giraffe Conservation Foundation (GCF) director Julian Fennessey has called a "silent extinction" of giraffes.

例如，与非洲象相比，长颈鹿的总体数量相形见绌。非洲象的数量约为45万只，但其数量的下降引起了更深入的研究和更广泛的宣传。这种对比并不是要减少大象面临的真正危险，但它确实凸显了纳米比亚长颈鹿保护基金会(GCF)主任朱利安·芬尼西所说的长颈鹿的“无声灭绝”。

A mother giraffe and her calf amble through Shamwari Game Reserve in South Africa. (Photo: Gunter Nuyts/Shutterstock)

Despite their extreme height — adult males can stand nearly 20 feet (6 meters) tall — giraffes have been overlooked by many scientists and conservationists. This is likely due to a longstanding belief that giraffes are abundant, experts say, as well as a lack of definitive data proving otherwise.

尽管长颈鹿非常高——成年雄性长颈鹿能站近20英尺(6米)高——但许多科学家和自然资源保护主义者却忽视了它们。专家们说，这可能是因为长期以来人们一直认为长颈鹿数量丰富，同时缺乏确凿的数据证明事实并非如此。

"When I first became interested in giraffes in 2008 and started looking through the scientific literature, I was really surprised to see how little had been done," University of Minnesota Ph.D. student Megan Strauss told The New York Times in 2014. "It was amazing that something as well known as the giraffe could be so little studied."

“当我在2008年第一次对长颈鹿感兴趣，并开始查阅科学文献时，我真的很惊讶地发现所做的工作如此之少，”明尼苏达大学的博士生梅根·施特劳斯(Megan Strauss)在2014年告诉《纽约时报》。“令人惊讶的是，像长颈鹿这样有名的动物却很少被研究。”

Giraffes in jeopardy

危险"长颈鹿

The Nairobi skyline looms behind a giraffe at Kenya's Nairobi National Park. (Photo: mbrand85/Shutterstock)

The IUCN still considers all giraffes a single species with nine subspecies, although genetic research has raised a few questions about that in recent years, leading some scientists to push for a new giraffe taxonomy. The GCF, for instance, cites a study in Current Biology that identified four species of giraffe, acknowledging "this might appear an academic exercise" but arguing it could have major implications for conservation.

IUCN仍然认为所有长颈鹿都是一个拥有9个亚种的单一物种，尽管近年来遗传学研究对此提出了一些问题，导致一些科学家推动一种新的长颈鹿分类方法。例如，GCF引用了《当代生物学》上的一项研究，该研究确定了四种长颈鹿，承认“这可能是一项学术研究”，但认为这可能对保护长颈鹿有重大意义。

Humans have a long history of hunting giraffes, seeking food as well as thick, durable skin to make clothing and other items. But a belief that giraffe brains and bone marrow can cure HIV has gained traction in Tanzania, reportedly pushing prices for a head or bones as high as $140 per piece. And since giraffes are relatively easy for humans to kill, often with a single gunshot, they've also become a popular source of food and extra income among Africa's growing hordes of elephant poachers.

人类捕猎长颈鹿、寻找食物以及制作衣服和其他物品的厚实耐用的皮肤有着悠久的历史。但是，长颈鹿的大脑和骨髓可以治愈艾滋病的信念在坦桑尼亚得到了广泛的支持，据报道，长颈鹿的头部或骨骼的价格高达140美元/块。由于长颈鹿相对来说更容易被人类猎杀，通常只需一枪一弹，它们也成为非洲日益增长的大象偷猎者群体的一种受欢迎的食物和额外收入来源。

Hints of hope

希望之光

A pair of giraffes survey their surroundings at Masai Mara National Reserve in Kenya. (Photo: Travel Stock/Shutterstock)

When humans do stick out their necks for giraffes, however, there's evidence it can improve the animals' fortunes. The West African giraffe, for example, was pushed to the brink of extinction in the 1990s by human population growth and a series of droughts. Down to just 50 individuals in 1996, the subspecies won legal protection from the government of Niger, helping it rebound to 250 individuals in 2010. Conservationists have also worked with villages in Niger to plant 5,300 acacia treessince 2012, reducing the need for giraffes to raid crops.

然而，有证据表明，当人类伸出脖子去抓长颈鹿时，长颈鹿的命运会得到改善。例如，在20世纪90年代，由于人类人口增长和一系列干旱，西非长颈鹿被推到了灭绝的边缘。1996年，这个亚种只剩下50只，但它从尼日尔的政府获得了法律保护，帮助它在2010年恢复到250只。自2012年以来，环保人士还与尼日尔的村庄合作种植了5300棵金合欢树，减少了长颈鹿袭击农作物的需要。

The move is a step in the right direction, as previous changes to international law have shown. In 2018, the West African giraffe was relisted from Endangered to Vulnerable in the 2018 IUCN update, while Rothschild's giraffes were also upgraded from Endangered to Near Threatened. Both subspecies have seen their numbers grow in recent years, suggesting there's still time to save other giraffes, too.

正如此前对国际法的修改所显示的那样，这一举措是朝着正确方向迈出的一步。2018年，西非长颈鹿在2018年世界自然保护联盟(IUCN)的更新中被从濒危物种重新列入脆弱物种名单，而罗斯柴尔德的长颈鹿也被从濒危物种升级为濒临灭绝物种。这两个亚种近年来的数量都有所增长，这表明还有时间拯救其他长颈鹿。