No-deal Brexit will put endangered forest giraffes at risk, experts warn
Brexit has been blamed for some things but this is probably the most bizarre I’ve come across to date!!!
A no-deal Brexit will put the future of an endangered group of forest giraffes in jeopardy, conservation experts have warned.
Around 70 okapis, which are from the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) and have a brown body and zebra-like striped legs, reside in zoos in the European Union where free movement rules support an inter-country breeding project.
Should Britain, which houses 15 okapis, crash out of the EU without a transition deal, it would probably be removed from the project.
Sander Hofman, general curator of Antwerp Zoo in Belgium, who coordinates okapi relocation for reproduction, said: “Brexit is very bad news for conservation breeding.
“Fifteen out of my 73 [okapis] are in the UK. You can imagine that if I need to remove these 15, it would be a big blow for my population but it would be even worse for the UK colleagues.”