Giraffe Hide Clothes Sold At NYC Store, Investigation Finds

MIDTOWN, NY — A Midtown shop is selling clothes fashioned from giraffe hide — part of a troubling trend across the U.S. as the gentle giant's population continues to plummet, a Humane Society investigation found.

Researchers found 52 retailers across the country selling boots, jackets, bags and even bible covers tooled from giraffe leather. The appalling practice is not illegal even though the giraffe population has fallen by 40 percent since 1990 and there are fewer than 100,000 of the long-necked creatures left on the planet, according to the Humane Society report.

The organization sent investigators equipped with hidden cameras undercover to 21 brick-and-mortar stores peppered across the country to survey the merchandise – which at some spots included knives with giraffe bone handles, tail-haired bracelets and taxidermied trophies going for thousands.

One location sold a disturbing pillow made out of a giraffe face – eyelashes included.

At Anzhelas Custom Tailor Shoes and Accessories on West 30th Street and Seventh Avenue, the shop's owner, Rafael Allayev, offers to make customers jackets, shoes and bags out of the animal hide.

Griaffes are suffering a "silent extinction" because there is essentially no regulation on trade in the animal's parts – allowing hunters to hawk every last bit of the creatures, said a Humane Society official.

“Our investigation indicates that trophy hunting outfitters in Africa are capitalizing on every last bit of these beautiful animals,” said Adam Peyman, manager of wildlife programs for the organization. “They are selling them to taxidermists, animal product manufacturers and dealers, who in turn market them to sellers in the U.S."

More than 40,000 giraffe parts were imported to the United States over the last decade, which translates to 4,000 creatures converted into commodities, the report found. Trophy hunters from South Africa and Zimbabwe are the biggest exporters.

Giraffes were moved to a list of vulnerable species – one level below endangers – by the International Union for the Conservation of Nature in March, but the animal is not listed as endangered under the Endangered Species Act in America, making it legal to craft and sell the goods.

The Humane Society is currently campaigning to have giraffes listed as an endangered species.

Photos courtesy of the Humane Society