Will HSUS Profit From The Legal Trade In Giraffe Skins?

     For many years now giraffe skins and parts have been legally imported, traded and sold in the United States and elsewhere, even though giraffe populations are in significant decline in the wild. Giraffes, like other large animals, suffer from the serious loss of habitat, poaching and more.
     HSUS is in the news today for conducting a supposed undercover investigation in the use of giraffe skins and parts. This has generated significant publicity (and more than likely donations) for them. Investigating what is a legal trade can hardly qualify as an undercover investigation. Furthermore, if this was an investigation of a criminal trade in giraffe skins and parts, then it belongs in the hands of law enforcement, not an animal organization.
     Conservation is not achieved by animal organizations generating publicity for themselves. Conservation is achieved by the bread and butter of saving habitat, and ensuring sufficient resources are in place to protect the habitat and wildlife therein.
      Trading giraffe parts and skins, and certain other declining animal species, have been legal and out in the open for decades. Why this has not been on the radar for so long speaks of failure, as does the massive decline of wildlife and their habitat. While they have declined, the coffers of a number of animal organizations have grown exponentially.