17 Jan 2012

Giraffes gunned down for family holiday 'fun'

Tourists like these are paying tens of thousands of pounds to legally hunt giraffe, the elegant, gentle giants of the animal kingdom. Many take the animals' heads home as a sick trophy of their African "adventure".

giraffe

Giraffe expert Dr Julian Fennessey said: "Some come from Britain but the big majority are from North America, Germany, Russia and Scandinavia. "Some hunters just like to have photos taken next to the dead giraffe. But others pay taxidermists to mount the head so they can take them home as a souvenir. Or they might want to take the skin." The hunters pay up to £10,000 for the giraffe-hunting expeditions, which target the larger males.

Safari clubs and game reserves ask for a £1,500 trophy fee and add £1,000 a day for guides and trackers. The giraffe population has nearly halved since 1988 — falling from more than 140,000 to fewer than 80,000. They are now thought to be extinct in places such as Angola, Mali and Nigeria.

The Sun