--- title: Giraffe: Here's Why Wild Giraffes Are Potentially Facing Extinction description: Population down 40% in 15 years, new study shows. canonical: https://time.com/3622344/giraffe-extinction/ author: Jack Linshi article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2014-12-07T19:13:17.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-02-22T02:38:15.984Z article:section: Science og:title: Here's Why Wild Giraffes Are Potentially Facing Extinction og:description: Human intervention can save a dying giraffe population og:url: https://time.com/3622344/giraffe-extinction/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt7d23e31523227e16/69876d428e0601652f4590f1/458431418.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 2560 og:image:height: 1440 og:image:alt: Portrait of Thornicroft's Giraffes (giraffa camelopardalis og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Here's Why Wild Giraffes Are Potentially Facing Extinction twitter:description: Human intervention can save a dying giraffe population twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt7d23e31523227e16/69876d428e0601652f4590f1/458431418.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # Here's Why Wild Giraffes Could Go Extinct  by [Jack Linshi](https://time.com/author/jack-linshi/)  ## Jack Linshi Dec 7, 2014 7:13 PM UTC  Giraffes in South Luangwa National Park in eastern Zambia. Giraffes in South Luangwa National Park in eastern Zambia.Wolfgang Kaehler—LightRocket/Getty Images  by [Jack Linshi](https://time.com/author/jack-linshi/)  ## Jack Linshi Dec 7, 2014 7:13 PM UTC Wild giraffes are not just dropping in numbers at an alarmingly high rate–they’re doing so without much attention from governments and other protective agencies, according to a new report. The population of wild giraffes has dropped by 40% over the last 15 years, according to a new survey by the Giraffe Conservation Foundation (GCF). The organization calls the problem a potentially “silent extinction” due to a lack of public awareness, which revolves around African elephants, rhinos and gorillas, _Mother Nature Network_ [reports](http://www.mnn.com/earth-matters/animals/blogs/why-wild-giraffes-are-suffering-a-silent-extinction). “Giraffes are the forgotten megafauna,” GCF executive director Julian Fennessy [told](http://blogs.scientificamerican.com/extinction-countdown/2014/11/24/giraffes-under-threat/) _Scientific American_. “They’re really not getting the attention they deserve.” The giraffe population has fallen due to habitat destruction by humans repurposing land for agricultural uses, according to _MNN_. Giraffes have also historically been hunted for their durable, patterned skin, a process that has reportedly increased in Tanzania due to a myth that giraffe brains and bone marrow can cure HIV. But giraffe conservationists hope the wild giraffe population can be restored with some intervention. When the West African giraffe nearly went extinct in the 1990s due to human causes and droughts, conservationists won legal protection for the animals, and their population has since increased five-fold. \[[_MNN_](http://www.mnn.com/earth-matters/animals/blogs/why-wild-giraffes-are-suffering-a-silent-extinction)\] ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/3622344/giraffe-extinction/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/3622344/giraffe-extinction/"},"headline":"Here's Why Wild Giraffes Could Go Extinct","datePublished":"2014-12-07T19:13:17.000Z","dateModified":"2026-02-22T02:38:15.984Z","description":"Population down 40% in 15 years, new study shows","url":"https://time.com/3622344/giraffe-extinction/","keywords":["animals"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt7d23e31523227e16/69876d428e0601652f4590f1/458431418.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Jack Linshi","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/jack-linshi/"}],"articleSection":"Science","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt7d23e31523227e16/69876d428e0601652f4590f1/458431418.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"Portrait of Thornicroft's Giraffes (giraffa camelopardalis","caption":"Portrait of Thornicroft's Giraffes (giraffa camelopardalis","creditText":"Wolfgang Kaehler—LightRocket/Getty Images","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/science/","name":"Science"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/animals/","name":"animals"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/3622344/giraffe-extinction/","name":"Here's Why Wild Giraffes Could Go Extinct"}}]}] ```