I missed World Giraffe Day on Sunday

In addition to Sunday being both Father's Day and the Summer Solstice, it was world Giraffe Day, as Michigan State University pointed out in yesterday's That's the spirit.

Speaking of giraffes, did you know last Sunday was not just Father’s Day but World Giraffe Day? Who knew there was such a thing? It was started by the Giraffe Conservation Foundation to celebrate the longest-necked animal on the longest day of the year and to bring awareness to the challenges they face in the wild.

Mongabay has more in Happy World Giraffe Day 2015.

World Giraffe Day was started in 2014 by the Giraffe Conservation Foundation to raise awareness about the animal with the longest neck. June 21st was selected because it is the longest day (Northern Hemisphere) and longest night (Southern Hemisphere) of the year.

While the giraffe is instantly recognizable to most people, few know that wild giraffes are in dire straights: since 1999 Africa's giraffe population has plummeted from 140,000 to about 80,000. That's less than a sixth of the wild elephant population.

Those numbers remind me that humans causing a sixth mass extinction has been in the news this week.  I'll get to that later.  Right now, I'll leave my readers with Planet Experts Presents: World Giraffe Day 2015.

In this video produced by Planet Expert Social Media Manager Ben Ellenbecker, we present the fearsome, frolicsome and adorable features of the tallest mammal on Earth, the giraffe. Visit Planet Experts and the Giraffe Conservation Foundation to learn more.

A belated happy World Giraffe Day to all my readers while I'm in another "I can't be all DOOM all the time" mood.