Inside the Fight to Stop Giraffes’ ‘Silent Extinction’
Numbers of the famous African animal have fallen by nearly half in the past 15 years, prompting urgent—and sometimes risky—actions to help.
Giraffe researcher Julian Fennessy recently boarded a helicopter in Ethiopia's Gambella National Park, which borders the turbulent new nation of South Sudan.
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His mission: To collar giraffes and collect tissue samples from the animals, which have been rapidly disappearing from Africa in what Fennessy calls a "silent extinction." (Related: "Giraffes, Zebras Face Surprising Top Threat: Hunting.")