Giraffe

Wildlife experts say giraffe populations are dropping drastically across Africa due to poaching and habitat loss, and it’s gone largely unnoticed. There has been a 40 percent drop in the giraffe population in the last 15 years, according to the Namibian-based Giraffe Conservation Research, which is conducting the first comprehensive assessment on giraffes to be published next year. “It’s a silent extinction,” said Dr. Julian Fennessy, the group’s executive director. “The numbers have gone down from 140,000 to fewer than 80,000 today.” Fennessy said there’s a widespread belief that the animals are everywhere, due to a lack of accurate data. — Read it at ABC News

More on Vetstreet.com: