Giraffe - The Facts
Current giraffe status?
Giraffa camelopardalis
IUCN - Lower Risk/conservation dependent (LR/cd): as a species
- Endangered: G.c. peralta (West African or Nigerian giraffe)
CITES - Not Listed
The total number of giraffes in Africa was estimated by IUCN in 1999 to exceed 140,000, (of which 40% were in or around protected areas and private lands) and such numbers were thought capable of being maintained were they adequately protected.
Current estimates by the GCF have the population at less than 80,000 individuals across all subspecies. This is a considerable drop in the last decade and shows that the plight of giraffe is in real danger. Efforts are underway to build up an accurate census of the entire population – working closely with IUCN SSC ASG International Giraffe Working Group. With the exception of Angolan, Cape and Thornicroft’s giraffe, all other subspecies are either decreasing and/or unstable.
Poaching, human population growth, habitat loss, habitat fragmentation and habitat degradation continue to impact on the giraffe’s distribution across the continent.
Today, the important safety havens for giraffe in Africa include but not limited to are: Waza N.P. and the adjacent hunting zones (Cameroon), Zakouma N.P. (Chad), southwest Niger, Murchison Falls N.P. (Uganda), the Mara/Serengeti ecosystem (Kenya/Tanzania), Laikipia (Kenya), South Luangwa N.P. (Zambia), and, in southern Africa Etosha N.P. (Namibia), Okavango Delta (Botswana), Hwange N.P. (Zimbabwe) and Kruger N.P. (South Africa).
Angolan giraffe (G.c. angolensis) - <20,000
Kordofan giraffe (G.c. antiquorum) - <3,000
Masai giraffe (G.c. tippelschircki) - <40,000
Nubian giraffe (G.c. camelopardalis) - <250 ?unknown?
Reticulated giraffe (G.c. reticulata) - <5,000
Rothschild's giraffe (G.c. rothschildi) - <700
South African giraffe (G.c. giraffa) - <12,000
Thornicroft’s giraffe (G c. thornicrofti) - <1,500
West African giraffe (G.c. peralta) - <220