Giraffes need endangered species protection for the first time, US officials say
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(NEW YORK) — The tallest animal on Earth is in danger, according to the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, which has called for federal protections for giraffe species for the first time.
In the face of poaching, habitat loss and climate change, the agency proposes listing three subspecies of northern giraffes from west, central and east Africa as endangered under the Endangered Species Act.
“Federal protections for giraffes will help protect a vulnerable species, foster biodiversity, support ecosystem health, combat wildlife trafficking, and promote sustainable economic practices,” U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service Director Martha Williams said in a press release Wednesday.
“This action supports giraffe conservation while ensuring the United States does not contribute further to their decline,” Williams added.
The subspecies officials say need endangered designation include the West African, Kordofan and Nubian giraffes.
The populations of these subspecies of northern giraffes have declined approximately 77% since 1985, from 25,653 to 5,919 individuals, according to the agency, which notes, only 690 West African giraffes remain.
Additionally, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service recommends two subspecies of southern giraffes, Angolan and South African, be listed as threatened.
If the proposal is finalized, officials say the designation would reduce illegal hunting and trade of giraffes by requiring permits for import into the U.S. and increase funding for conservation and research efforts.
“Giraffes have been moving towards extinction for years, but their plight has gone largely unnoticed,” Danielle Kessler, U.S. Director of the International Fund for Animal Welfare (IFAW), said in a statement to ABC News.
The IFAW helped craft and submit the Endangered Species Act listing proposal.
Kessler said the decline in giraffe populations is known as the “silent extinction” with subspecies numbers plummeting dramatically by up to 40% over the last 30 years.
“Losing giraffes would be a devastating loss to Earth’s biodiversity,” Kessler said. “We hope that USFWS will move quickly to finalize this decision and safeguard the future of these species.”
(NEW YORK) — The attorney for two Black men whose racially motivated torture led to the conviction of six white former Mississippi law enforcement officers called for justice amid a new U.S. Department of Justice announced civil rights probe into the Rankin County Sheriff’s Department (RCSD), where five of the former sheriff’s deputies worked.
Malik Shabazz, the lead attorney representing Michael Jenkins and Eddie Parker, said during a video press conference Monday from his office in Greenbelt, Maryland, that the two men and their legal team “welcome this federal investigation into Rankin County and into Sheriff Bryan Bailey. It is long overdue.”
The investigation into the Rankin County Sheriff’s Department “will seek to determine whether RCSD engages in patterns or practices that violate the Constitution and federal law,” according to the DOJ announcement.
The probe is separate from the initial investigation launched by the DOJ last year into the Jan. 24, 2023 torture of Jenkins and Parker, which led to the conviction of five former sheriff’s deputies, as well as a former Richland, Mississippi police officer who was also involved in the incident, on both federal and state charges. The sheriff’s deputies were part of a self-described “Goon Squad” of “officers who were known for using excessive force and not reporting it,” according to the DOJ.
“Those officers have since been convicted and sentenced, but we are launching this civil pattern or practice investigation to examine serious allegations that the Rankin County Sheriff’s Department systematically violates people’s constitutional rights through excessive use of force; unlawful stops, searches, and arrests; and discriminatory policing,” U.S. Attorney General Merrick Garland said in the statement announcing the probe.
Garland added that the allegations against the Rankin County Sheriff’s office include overusing tasers, entering homes unlawfully, using racial slurs, and utilizing “cruel tactics to assault people in their custody.”
In response to a request for comment, an attorney representing Sheriff Bryan Bailey and the RCSD referred ABC News to a statement posted on the RCSD’s Facebook page in response to the DOJ probe announcement.
“We have increased our agency’s transparency by placing our policies and procedures, in addition to our compliments and complaints portal on the Sheriff’s Department website,” the statement says. “We will continue this transparency and will fully cooperate with all aspects of this investigation, while also welcoming DOJ’s input into our updated policies and practices.”
Attorneys Shabazz and Trent Walker, who represent Parker and Jenkins, told ABC News in a joint statement that the DOJ probe into the RCSD is “a first, critical step in cleaning up the Sheriff’s Department and holding Rankin County legally accountable for the years of constitutional violations against its citizenry.”
“The torture and abuse of so many took place because, despite innumerable warnings, Rankin County and Sheriff Bailey belligerently refused to properly monitor and supervise this rogue and violent department,” Shabazz and Walker claimed in the statement.
U.S. Attorney Todd W. Gee for the Southern District of Mississippi said in a statement responding to the DOJ probe announcement that the information the DOJ has gathered regarding the behavior of some members of the RCSD “calls back to some of the worst periods of Mississippi’s history.”
“We do not have to accept the old hatreds and abuse of the past,” Gee said. “And we do not have to accept the false claim that safety comes at the price of illegal force and abuse of power.”
The Mississippi NAACP said in a statement posted to Facebook that the DOJ probe into the sheriff’s office “marks a significant step in addressing concerns raised by the community and advocates regarding potential misconduct within the department,” and that the NAACP “looks forward to Rankin County being held accountable for alleged acts against its population.”
The DOJ civil rights probe comes nearly six months after the federal sentencing in March of former RCSO deputies Hunter Elward, Jeffrey Middleton, Christian Dedmon, Brett McAlpin and Daniel Opdyke, along with Joshua Hartfield, a former Richland, Mississippi police officer, to between 10 and 40 years in prison. The six men also pleaded guilty to state charges stemming from the incident and were sentenced in April to between 10 and 20 years in prison.
All six pleaded guilty to 16 felony charges related to the racially motivated torture and sexual assault of Jenkins and Parker, along with a third Rankin County man, in two unrelated incidents, according to a statement released by U.S. Department of Justice on Aug. 3, 2023. They also pleaded guilty to a subsequent plan to cover up their crimes.
News of the Jan. 24, 2023 incident and the subsequent convictions sparked a firestorm in Mississippi, including calls for Bailey’s resignation from numerous parties, including the Rankin County branch of the NAACP, which launched a petition calling for the sheriff to step down.
Following the sentencing of the former sheriff’s deputies in March, Bailey said in a statement obtained by ABC affiliate WAPT-TV in Jackson, Mississippi that “the safety and security of everyone in Rankin County is a primary concern for this department” and that his office cooperated with the initial DOJ probe into the torture of Jenkins and Parker.
“As the duly elected and acting Sheriff of Rankin County, I will remain committed to the betterment of this county and this sheriff’s department moving forward,” Bailey added.
Jenkins and Parker filed a $400 million federal lawsuit in July 2023 against the former law enforcement officers involved in this case. The lawsuit also names Sheriff Bailey, claiming he “failed to properly train, supervise, control, direct, monitor, and discipline Rankin County Sheriff’s Deputies.”
The former sheriff’s deputies and Bailey denied wrongdoing in an Oct. 2023 filing in response to the suit.
In July, Bailey asked U.S. District Judge Daniel P. Jordan III to dismiss him from the lawsuit, claiming he had “qualified immunity” — a doctrine that protects government officials, including law enforcement officers, from personal liability for alleged constitutional violations. But in a July 24 ruling, the judge denied Bailey’s request.
(NEW YORK) — E-cigarettes in kid-friendly flavors are driving retail sales and contain more addictive nicotine than ever, according to a new report from the nonprofit CDC Foundation and advocacy group Truth Initiative.
The report showed a 47% increase in e-cigarette sales at U.S. retail outlets between 2019 and 2023, with flavors like fruit, candy, mint, menthol and desserts accounting for more than 80% of those sales.
Most flavored products are not authorized by the Food and Drug Administration and are therefore on the market illegally, according to Truth Initiative.
Vaping among youth is declining in the U.S., but more than 1.6 million children still vape, and nearly 90% of them report using flavored products, according to the report.
States that have implemented strong enforcement policies have seen a dramatic drop in sales. Massachusetts, for example, saw an 86% drop in overall e-cigarette sales in brick-and-mortar stores, the report said.
The proliferation of kid-friendly flavored vapes is not authorized by the FDA to be in stores, making the booming sales technically illegal — but that could change if the industry succeeds in a major case before the U.S. Supreme Court next month.
Vape makers have sued the FDA, which has blocked the sale and marketing of most flavored products, alleging the agency is stonewalling good science and common sense. They claim flavors like “Jimmy the Juice Man” and “Iced Pineapple Express” are ideal for helping adult smokers quit a cancer-causing habit.
The Supreme Court will delve into the science during arguments on Dec. 2 and decide next year whether the FDA analysis has been flawed and unfair, potentially opening the flood gates to widespread legal production and sale of flavored nicotine products.
There has been a major decline in the number of students who reported current e-cigarette use, according to federal data released last month from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the U.S. Food and Drug Administration’s 2024 National Youth Tobacco Survey.
The number of users was 2.13 million in 2023 compared to 1.63 million in 2024, the report found. Usage among high school students in particular dropped to 1.56 million from 1.21 million over the same period.
ABC News’ Mary Kekatos contributed to this report.
(DENVER) — More than 700 homes were under evacuation orders near the town of Divide, Colorado, as a wildfire burned uncontained nearby, local law enforcement said Monday.
The so-called Highland Lake Fire had burned about 90 acres by 7 p.m. on Monday and was completely uncontained, Teller County Sheriff Jason Mikesell told reporters during a news conference.
A local disaster emergency was declared. One structure had been destroyed by Monday evening, the county said in an update.
“You’re going to see everybody throw everything we possibly can at this thing, starting early in the morning,” Mikesell said.
The sheriff’s office was requesting the aid of multiple agencies around the surrounding region, as they were expecting high winds, which may help the fire spread amid red flag conditions. Those winds were expected to be sustained at about 20 mph overnight, before strengthening to about 50 mph on Tuesday, he said.
The evacuation area included Cedar Mountain North to Golden Bell, Wayward Wind, Snowhill, Aspen Village, Broken Wheel, Alpine View, Beaver Lake Circle, Beaver Lake Placeand Star View Trail, the county said.
More homes were expected to be evacuated, Mikesell said.
“We’ll have more of an assessment tomorrow, but we want to get on this fire very quickly and be super aggressive with it,” he said.
