Giraffes have always been in the spotlight, from April the giraffe giving birth shown via live stream, to the mascot for the old company Toys r Us. However, little do people know that giraffes have been on the endangered species list for many years. Over the last thirty years, giraffe populations have decreased at around forty percent. Their population is now estimated around just under 100,000. Their decline is due to habitat loss and illegal hunting. The IUCN red list of threatened species, “contains explicit criteria and categories to classify the conservation status of individual species on the basis of their probability of extinction” according to britannica.com. For years, giraffes have been moving up the scale and are now endangered, this was not brought to too much attention until earlier this year.

“I don’t think we realize how humans are a species just like animals,” said senior Elizabeth Kang. “Giraffes are such beautiful creatures, and knowing that some people kill them for sport makes me so disappointed in us humans.”