Giraffes are one of the most unique animals in the world. With their long legs and equally long necks and their spotted pattern you can’t miss them when you see one. Although we don’t see them often in the United States because they are native to Africa, that doesn’t keep us from falling in love with the magical creatures.

Think of Geoffrey the giraffe that was the mascot for Toys R Us, and April the giraffe that we couldn’t get enough of while she was preparing to give birth.

Sadly, the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) have added two subspecies of giraffes to the list of critically endangered species and another three subspecies are declining. The upside is that two species have began improving since being labeled as vulnerable, and the last of the subspecies is considered stable thanks to government intervention and increased measure to protect the animals.

Giraffes aren’t predictable creatures and they have been hard to study making it even harder to determine what steps can be taken to help protect them. But experts do know that poachers and hunters are part of the problem.

Conservationists are hopeful though that these animals will get rallied behind them like other endangered species such as giant pandas and mountain gorillas. We know from them that positive change is possible.

Reticulated giraffes, like April, have been added to the list as endangered. The Kordofan giraffe is a smaller species of giraffe coming in at only 16 to 20 feet tall. it is listed as critically endangered in it’s native lands of Cameroon, Chad, Central African Republic, and Sudan.

The Nubian giraffe, found in Ethiopia, Uganda, Kenya, and Sudan is also critically endangered and less than 2,000 are reportedly living. Some species in South Africa, however, are on the rebound.

As a whole, IUCN lists giraffes as vulnerable meaning they are likely to become endangered unless circumstances that are threatening their reproduction and survival improve.

Check out the adorable video below to be reminded just why we love giraffes, and be sure to share this heartbreaking story with your family and friends. Lets do everything we can to give these animals a chance.