#SaveTheAnimals: Soft Plush Minky Fleece Blanket (Elephant & Giraffe)

Elephants: Elephants are the largest land mammals on earth and have distinctly massive bodies, large ears, and long trunks. Elephants need extensive land areas to survive and meet their ecological needs, which includes food, water, and space. On average, an elephant can feed up to 18 hours and consume hundreds of pounds of plant matter in a single day. As a result, as they lose habitat, they often come into conflict with people in competition for resources. Once common throughout Africa and Asia, elephants have declined significantly during the 20th century, largely due to the illegal ivory trade. Though some populations are now stable and growing, poaching, human-elephant conflict, and habitat destruction continue to threaten the species.

Giraffe: Two giraffe subspecies have been listed as Critically Endangered by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) Red List of Threatened Species for the first time. Giraffe numbers plummeted by a staggering 40% in the last three decades, and less than 100,000 remain today. Habitat loss through expanding agriculture, human-wildlife conflict, civil unrest, and poaching for their meat, pelts, and tails, are among the reasons for the decline. Three of the currently recognized nine subspecies were listed as Critically Endangered or Endangered on the latest IUCN Red List. Those subspecies in East, Central, and West Africa are faring particularly poorly: the Kordofan and Nubian giraffes, with respectively 2,000 and 2,645 individuals remaining, are now just one stage from Extinct in the Wild. The Reticulated, Thornicroft’s and West African giraffes are also listed as Endangered or Vulnerable. Many people, including conservationists, remain unaware that the world’s tallest animal is experiencing a silent slide towards extinction.