It is one of the most bizarre animals on the planet: despite its enormous size, it inspires not fear but affection, on account of that disproportionate neck, those outsized legs and those comical horns. We are talking about the tallest mammal in the world — we are talking, of course, about the giraffe.

21 June marks the first edition of World Giraffe Day, established by the Giraffe Conservation Foundation (GCF) with the aim of raising funds to protect giraffes. Governments, non-governmental associations and environmental organisations around the world have joined the initiative, which has been met with widespread support. Italy is participating through the zoological facilities of the Unione italiana degli zoo e degli acquari (Uiza), and in particular Parco Natura Viva in Bussolengo (Verona) and Parco Zoo di Falconara (Ancona).

According to data reported by the Giraffe Conservation Foundation, the giraffe population has almost halved over the past fifteen years. Since the late 1990s, the wild population has fallen from 140,000 to 80,000 individuals — a decline of around 40 per cent in just over ten years. Scientists warn that if the trend is not reversed, giraffes could become extinct within ten years. The main causes of this rapid decline are habitat loss, growing human impact and poaching.

Researchers involved in giraffe conservation projects are calling on the IUCN (the International Union for Conservation of Nature) to change the status of giraffes on the Red List of Threatened Species. The giraffe is currently listed only as a species of "least concern", whereas two of the nine subspecies are considered "endangered". The most threatened species is the Niger giraffe (Giraffa camelopardalis peralta), of which fewer than 300 individuals exist in the wild.

The giraffe's main "predator" is therefore Homo sapiens, not least because in the wild, predators — chiefly large felines such as lions and leopards, but also hyenas and crocodiles — can only get the better of sick, old or very young individuals. An adult giraffe, despite its good-natured and almost vacant expression, is capable of delivering powerful kicks that can crush a lion's skull with ease.