野生長頸鹿正遭受“無聲滅絕”

野生長頸鹿正遭受“無聲滅絕”

Earth's tallest animal is in deep trouble. Wild giraffe populations are plummeting due to poaching and habitat loss, with survey data showing the mammals' numbers have fallen more than 40 percent over the last 30 years. And unlike the well-known plight of gorillas, elephants, rhinos and other disappearing African icons, the decline of these serene giants has gone largely unnoticed.

地球上最高的動物深陷困境。由于偷獵和棲息地的喪失，野生長頸鹿的數(shù)量急劇下降。調(diào)查數(shù)據(jù)顯示，在過去30年里，野生長頸鹿的數(shù)量下降了40%以上。與眾所周知的大猩猩、大象、犀牛和其他正在消失的非洲標(biāo)志性動物所處的困境不同，這些安詳?shù)凝嬋淮笪锏乃ヂ湓诤艽蟪潭壬蠜]有引起人們的注意。

Fewer than 97,000 giraffes are left in the wild, according to the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN), which has listed the animals as 'Vulnerable' on its Red List of Threatened Species. (Photo: Sumarie Slabber [CC BY-ND 2.0]/Flickr)

The overall giraffe population pales in comparison to African elephants, for example, which number around 450,000 but whose decline has drawn closer study and wider publicity. That contrast isn't meant to diminish the real danger facing elephants, but it does highlight what Namibia-based Giraffe Conservation Foundation (GCF) director Julian Fennessey has called a "silent extinction" of giraffes.

例如，與非洲象相比，長頸鹿的總體數(shù)量相形見絀。非洲象的數(shù)量約為45萬只，但其數(shù)量的下降引起了更深入的研究和更廣泛的宣傳。這種對比并不是要減少大象面臨的真正危險，但它確實(shí)凸顯了納米比亞長頸鹿保護(hù)基金會(GCF)主任朱利安·芬尼西所說的長頸鹿的“無聲滅絕”。

A mother giraffe and her calf amble through Shamwari Game Reserve in South Africa. (Photo: Gunter Nuyts/Shutterstock)

Despite their extreme height — adult males can stand nearly 20 feet (6 meters) tall — giraffes have been overlooked by many scientists and conservationists. This is likely due to a longstanding belief that giraffes are abundant, experts say, as well as a lack of definitive data proving otherwise.

盡管長頸鹿非常高——成年雄性長頸鹿能站近20英尺(6米)高——但許多科學(xué)家和自然資源保護(hù)主義者卻忽視了它們。專家們說，這可能是因為長期以來人們一直認(rèn)為長頸鹿數(shù)量豐富，同時缺乏確鑿的數(shù)據(jù)證明事實(shí)并非如此。

"When I first became interested in giraffes in 2008 and started looking through the scientific literature, I was really surprised to see how little had been done," University of Minnesota Ph.D. student Megan Strauss told The New York Times in 2014. "It was amazing that something as well known as the giraffe could be so little studied."

“當(dāng)我在2008年第一次對長頸鹿感興趣，并開始查閱科學(xué)文獻(xiàn)時，我真的很驚訝地發(fā)現(xiàn)所做的工作如此之少，”明尼蘇達(dá)大學(xué)的博士生梅根·施特勞斯(Megan Strauss)在2014年告訴《紐約時報》。“令人驚訝的是，像長頸鹿這樣有名的動物卻很少被研究。”

Giraffes in jeopardy

危險"長頸鹿

The Nairobi skyline looms behind a giraffe at Kenya's Nairobi National Park. (Photo: mbrand85/Shutterstock)

The IUCN still considers all giraffes a single species with nine subspecies, although genetic research has raised a few questions about that in recent years, leading some scientists to push for a new giraffe taxonomy. The GCF, for instance, cites a study in Current Biology that identified four species of giraffe, acknowledging "this might appear an academic exercise" but arguing it could have major implications for conservation.

IUCN仍然認(rèn)為所有長頸鹿都是一個擁有9個亞種的單一物種，盡管近年來遺傳學(xué)研究對此提出了一些問題，導(dǎo)致一些科學(xué)家推動一種新的長頸鹿分類方法。例如，GCF引用了《當(dāng)代生物學(xué)》上的一項研究，該研究確定了四種長頸鹿，承認(rèn)“這可能是一項學(xué)術(shù)研究”，但認(rèn)為這可能對保護(hù)長頸鹿有重大意義。

Humans have a long history of hunting giraffes, seeking food as well as thick, durable skin to make clothing and other items. But a belief that giraffe brains and bone marrow can cure HIV has gained traction in Tanzania, reportedly pushing prices for a head or bones as high as $140 per piece. And since giraffes are relatively easy for humans to kill, often with a single gunshot, they've also become a popular source of food and extra income among Africa's growing hordes of elephant poachers.

人類捕獵長頸鹿、尋找食物以及制作衣服和其他物品的厚實(shí)耐用的皮膚有著悠久的歷史。但是，長頸鹿的大腦和骨髓可以治愈艾滋病的信念在坦桑尼亞得到了廣泛的支持，據(jù)報道，長頸鹿的頭部或骨骼的價格高達(dá)140美元/塊。由于長頸鹿相對來說更容易被人類獵殺，通常只需一槍一彈，它們也成為非洲日益增長的大象偷獵者群體的一種受歡迎的食物和額外收入來源。

Hints of hope

希望之光

A pair of giraffes survey their surroundings at Masai Mara National Reserve in Kenya. (Photo: Travel Stock/Shutterstock)

When humans do stick out their necks for giraffes, however, there's evidence it can improve the animals' fortunes. The West African giraffe, for example, was pushed to the brink of extinction in the 1990s by human population growth and a series of droughts. Down to just 50 individuals in 1996, the subspecies won legal protection from the government of Niger, helping it rebound to 250 individuals in 2010. Conservationists have also worked with villages in Niger to plant 5,300 acacia treessince 2012, reducing the need for giraffes to raid crops.

然而，有證據(jù)表明，當(dāng)人類伸出脖子去抓長頸鹿時，長頸鹿的命運(yùn)會得到改善。例如，在20世紀(jì)90年代，由于人類人口增長和一系列干旱，西非長頸鹿被推到了滅絕的邊緣。1996年，這個亞種只剩下50只，但它從尼日爾的政府獲得了法律保護(hù)，幫助它在2010年恢復(fù)到250只。自2012年以來，環(huán)保人士還與尼日爾的村莊合作種植了5300棵金合歡樹，減少了長頸鹿襲擊農(nóng)作物的需要。

The move is a step in the right direction, as previous changes to international law have shown. In 2018, the West African giraffe was relisted from Endangered to Vulnerable in the 2018 IUCN update, while Rothschild's giraffes were also upgraded from Endangered to Near Threatened. Both subspecies have seen their numbers grow in recent years, suggesting there's still time to save other giraffes, too.

正如此前對國際法的修改所顯示的那樣，這一舉措是朝著正確方向邁出的一步。2018年，西非長頸鹿在2018年世界自然保護(hù)聯(lián)盟(IUCN)的更新中被從瀕危物種重新列入脆弱物種名單，而羅斯柴爾德的長頸鹿也被從瀕危物種升級為瀕臨滅絕物種。這兩個亞種近年來的數(shù)量都有所增長，這表明還有時間拯救其他長頸鹿。