Endangered Rothschild giraffes lean to re-ceive food from tourists at the Giraffe Centre in Nairobi December 16, 2007. At least six distinct species of giraffe, the world's tallest land animal, may be in existence and some of them are critically endangered, scientists in the U-nited States and Kenya have found. "Some of these giraffe populations number only a few hundred and need immediate protection," said the study's lead author, geneticist David Brown of the U.S.-based Wildlife Conservation So-ciety.

圖中兩隻瀕危的羅氏長頸鹿，去年12月16日在「奈羅比長頸鹿中心」伸長脖子向遊客要食物吃。美國和肯亞的科學家發現，目前至少有六種長頸鹿，這個世界上最高的動物，其中有些已經瀕臨滅絕。「有些長頸鹿只剩幾百隻，迫切需要保護，」帶頭做這項研究的美國野生物保育協會遺傳學家布朗說。

Africa's 110,000-strong giraffe population, initially thought to be comprised of a single species found in all its savannas, has been severely fragmented by increasing aridity and a wide range of human pressures. The most threatened potential species include the reticu-lated giraffe in Kenya, Ethiopia and Somalia. Its population was estimated at around 27,000 until the 1990s, when poaching and armed conflicts slashed the number to just 3,000 today. Several of these previously unrecognized ge-netic units are highly endangered, such as the West African giraffe, numbering about only 100 and restricted to a single area in Niger.

非洲共有11萬頭以上長頸鹿，原本以為在其熱帶無樹大草原上發現的是單一品種，實則長頸鹿已因乾旱和人類廣泛施壓而嚴重分裂。面臨最嚴重威脅的品種包括肯亞、伊索匹亞和索馬利亞的網紋長頸鹿，由於偷獵和武裝衝突，使其數目從1990年代估計約27,000頭，銳減至今只剩3,000頭。有些過去未認出的基因品種極可能絕種，像西非長頸鹿，目前只剩約100頭而且侷限於尼日一個地區。

But all giraffes -- which can grow up to 5.8 metres tall and weigh 2,000kg -- were un-der threat, Brown said in a statement, citing an estimated 30 percent drop in numbers over the past decade.

但布朗在一項聲明中警告說，過去十年來，所有長頸鹿的數目掉了約三成，所以牠們都面臨生存危脅。長頸鹿可以長到580公分高，2000公斤重。

In September, wildlife experts warned that "dysfunctional" African parks were losing species, particularly large mammals, due to poor conservation and pressure on resources. Human activities—spurred by rapid population growth and a quest for higher standards of liv-ing—have also undermined the efforts of African governments and conservationists to protect animals.

去年九月，野生物專家警告，由於保育不善及資源壓力，非洲園區「機能不良」折損了不少物種，尤其是大型哺乳動物。人口快速成長及追求優質生活水平，也使人類的活動破壞非洲政府和保育專家保護動物的努力。