GIRAFFE POPULATION DOWN 30% IN DECADE

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Scientists believe there may be at least six different species of
giraffe in existence and that some of them are now critically
endangered. It had been thought there was only one species of giraffe
ranging across Africa, but a study by Kenyan and US scientists,
published on the BMC Biology journal's website, has challenged that.
"Lumping all giraffes into one species obscures the reality that some
kinds of giraffe are on the very brink," said David Brown, the study's
lead author and a geneticist with the US-based Wildlife Conservation
Society.

The most threatened potential species include the reticulated giraffe 
in Kenya, Ethiopia and Somalia. Its population was estimated at around
27,000 until the 1990s, when poaching and conflicts slashed its numbers
to just 3,000. In west and central Africa, there are thought to be only
160 Nigerian giraffes. But all giraffes were under threat, Brown said in
a statement, citing an estimated 30 per cent drop in numbers over the
past decade.

http://english.aljazeera.net/NR/exeres/7883520B-E686-4A32-8B10-4D70654C186C.htm


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