The Four Giraffe Species, Explained (2025 IUCN Update)

The short answer

There are four recognised giraffe species: the northern giraffe (Giraffa camelopardalis), the reticulated giraffe (Giraffa reticulata), the Masai giraffe (Giraffa tippelskirchi), and the southern giraffe (Giraffa giraffa). The IUCN Species Survival Commission's Giraffe and Okapi Specialist Group made this official on 21 August 2025, replacing the old view of a single species with nine subspecies. Under the new framework there are four species and seven subspecies.

This is the biggest change in how we understand giraffes in a century — and it directly affects how they can be protected.

From one giraffe to four

For over 250 years, science treated every giraffe as one animal, Giraffa camelopardalis, divided into as many as nine subspecies. They look broadly alike — same towering shape, same ossicones, same long dark tongue — so the assumption held.

Genetics broke it. Analyses of nuclear and mitochondrial DNA, most influentially by Fennessy and colleagues in 2016, found that several giraffe lineages have been separate for 1–2 million years with little interbreeding, even where their ranges nearly meet. The genetic distance between them is on the order of that between a brown bear and a polar bear — animals no one would call the same species. In 2024–2025, the IUCN's Taxonomic Task Force reviewed the full body of genetic, morphological, and biogeographic evidence and concluded that four species is the accurate description.

The four species at a glance

Species	Scientific name	Subspecies	~2025 population	Trend	Core range
Northern giraffe	Giraffa camelopardalis	West African, Kordofan, Nubian	~7,037	Rising, but most threatened	Sahel, South Sudan, DRC, Uganda, Kenya
Reticulated giraffe	Giraffa reticulata	none	~20,901	Rising	NE Kenya, Somalia, Ethiopia
Masai giraffe	Giraffa tippelskirchi	Masai, Luangwa	~43,926	Stable / growing	Kenya, Tanzania, Zambia, Rwanda
Southern giraffe	Giraffa giraffa	South African, Angolan	~68,837	Rising (~+50% in 5 yrs)	Namibia, Botswana, South Africa, Zimbabwe

Together these add up to roughly 140,700 giraffes across Africa.

Northern giraffe (Giraffa camelopardalis)

The northern giraffe is the most threatened of the four, with only about 7,037 individuals, though numbers have risen roughly 20% in recent years. It carries three subspecies:

West African (Niger) giraffe — a landmark recovery, from about 49 animals in 1995 to roughly 600 today, protected by Nigerien communities.
Kordofan giraffe — scattered across Central Africa (Chad, CAR, Cameroon, DRC, South Sudan), badly affected by conflict.
Nubian giraffe — found in Uganda, Kenya, Ethiopia, and South Sudan. This is the giraffe long known as "Rothschild's." Genetically, Rothschild's giraffe is the Nubian subspecies, so the older name is fading from scientific use.

Small populations and unstable, insecure ranges make the northern giraffe the clearest conservation emergency. See its full northern giraffe profile.

Reticulated giraffe (Giraffa reticulata)

The reticulated giraffe is the one most people picture: a coat of deep, liver-red patches separated by sharp, bright white lines, like cracked mud or a net ("reticulum"). It has no subspecies. About 20,901 remain, mostly in northern Kenya, with smaller numbers in Somalia and Ethiopia, and the trend is upward — helped by community conservancies and photographic monitoring. Read the reticulated giraffe profile.

Masai giraffe (Giraffa tippelskirchi)

The Masai giraffe is the largest-bodied giraffe and typically the tallest, with jagged, vine-leaf or oak-leaf-shaped patches. It holds two subspecies — the Masai giraffe of Kenya and Tanzania, and the Luangwa giraffe of Zambia's Luangwa Valley, previously called "Thornicroft's." About 43,926 remain; numbers are stable overall and growing in Rwanda and Zambia. It was assessed as Endangered in 2019. More in the Masai giraffe profile.

Southern giraffe (Giraffa giraffa)

The southern giraffe is the conservation success story: roughly 68,837 animals, up about 50% in five years. It has two subspecies — the South African giraffe and the Angolan giraffe, the latter reintroduced into parts of its former range. Well-managed conservancies and private land across Namibia, Botswana, South Africa, and Zimbabwe underpin the recovery. See the southern giraffe profile.

How to tell them apart

Coat pattern is the quickest field clue, and it is not just decoration — the science of giraffe coats shows patterns are as individual as fingerprints and differ systematically between species:

Reticulated: sharp white lines, deep red-brown patches — the "net."
Masai: ragged, star- or vine-leaf-edged patches, often darker.
Southern: rounded, blotchy patches that fade toward the lower legs, on a tan background.
Northern: paler, more defined patches that usually stop above the knees, leaving white "socks."

Range matters too: encounter a wild giraffe in Namibia and it is southern; in the Niger "giraffe zone," it is West African northern.

Why the four-species split matters for survival

This is not taxonomy for its own sake. Conservation status, funding, and legal protection are assigned per species, so lumping four animals into one label had real costs:

It hid emergencies. A single "Vulnerable" giraffe rating averaged a booming southern population together with a collapsing northern one. Split apart, the northern giraffe's crisis becomes visible and fundable.
It changes priorities. With ~7,000 northern giraffes versus ~69,000 southern, the same dollar does very different work depending on the species.
It guides genetics. Knowing which populations are distinct species prevents mixing lineages during translocations and helps manage inbreeding in small groups.
It coordinates policy. Species that cross borders need governments working from the same map. Four clear species make that possible.

Splitting one giraffe into four did not create new problems. It revealed the ones that were always there.

The next step is formal IUCN Red List assessments for each species under the new taxonomy — expected to strengthen the case for listing three of the four as Endangered or Vulnerable. Until those are published, treat any single "four-species Red List status" claim with care: the population trends are known, but the new category labels are still being finalised. For the current picture, see are giraffes endangered?

Frequently asked questions

How many species of giraffe are there?

Four, since August 2025: northern, reticulated, Masai, and southern giraffe. They were previously treated as a single species with up to nine subspecies.

What happened to Rothschild's giraffe?

Genetic evidence folded Rothschild's giraffe into the Nubian subspecies of the northern giraffe. It is not a separate species or subspecies anymore, so the name is being retired in scientific use.

What is the rarest giraffe species?

The northern giraffe, at about 7,037 animals — the fewest of the four species, and the most threatened despite a recent upward trend.

Are Masai and reticulated giraffes the same?

No. They are now two distinct species — Giraffa tippelskirchi (Masai) and Giraffa reticulata (reticulated) — with different coats, ranges, and conservation needs.

How do scientists know giraffes are four species?

Analyses of nuclear and mitochondrial DNA show the four lineages have been genetically separate for 1–2 million years, with divergence comparable to that between brown bears and polar bears. The IUCN's Taxonomic Task Force reviewed this evidence before recognising four species in 2025.

Keep reading

Sources

Reviewed against IUCN and Giraffe Conservation Foundation sources. Last updated July 2026. Spotted an error? Tell us — a reference earns trust by correcting fast.