The modern giraffe (Giraffa camelopardalis) is the world’s tallest animal and its largest ruminant. It is also among the most quintessentially African of animals, being found throughout most of the continent—the greatest concentrations in eastern and southern Africa. Yet, since the dawn of the new millennium, a combination of habitat loss, habitat fragmentation, civil unrest, and rampant poaching has led to an alarming 40 percent decline in giraffe populations across Africa—from an estimated 140,000 individuals in 1999 to less than 80,000 today—with an astonishing 65 percent drop in areas of Botswana alone.
