Final signature count: 24,044

24,044 signatures toward our 30,000 goal

Giraffes have faced great threats in the past few decades, and are being pushed rapidly toward extinction¹.

From poaching and habitat loss to climate change, giraffe populations have been in decline since the 1990s².

Less than 69,000 mature giraffes remain in the wild — a 40% reduction over the past 30 years³.

The United States has contributed to this loss. Products made from giraffe skins and bones continue to flood into the country⁴.

The U.S. is a top importer and seller of giraffe parts, including heads, feet, tails, legs, and skins⁵. This greed has also led to rampant trophy hunting and poaching of giraffes all across sub-Saharan Africa⁶.

Conservationists and related organizations have been pushing to increase giraffe protections for years.

In 2016 the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) assessed giraffes as “vulnerable” to extinction and classified two giraffe subspecies as “critically endangered” in 2018 and two more as “endangered” in 2018 and 2019⁶.

In 2019, CITES (the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species) began regulating international trade in giraffes by requiring export permits⁷.

In April 2017, the Center for Biological Diversity, Humane Society International, and the Humane Society of the United States filed a petition to request giraffe protections, but the agency missed the legal deadline for a decision⁸.

The U.S. government is now considering extending protections of the Endangered Species Act to giraffes, bringing imports of giraffe parts down and saving countless giraffe lives. However, the decision deadline is not until 2024⁹.

It may be too late for the giraffe if action is not taken immediately. We must encourage the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service to act quickly before the iconic species’ numbers dwindle beyond recovery!

Sign the petition and help us ask the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service list giraffes under the Endangered Species Act now!