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New research led by African scientists has confirmed that giraffes are not one species but four, a reclassification set to improve global conservation strategies, with Africa already at the heart of their protection.
SPECIAL REPORT | BIRD AGENCY | At Naboisho Conservancy in Kenya, Jowel Mulama spends his mornings scanning the savannah, watching wildlife move slowly across the grasslands. Among them, giraffes have always stood out.
“They are gentle but at the same time commanding,” he explained on a call. “Every time you watch them, you notice something new: their grace, their height, the way they interact. To me, giraffes have always been different from any other animal.”
For Mulama, the new scientific classification is more than just a technical change.
“This is a unique reclassification because for the longest time, a giraffe has just been a giraffe. Not many people pay attention to them the way they do to elephants or lions. But this shows how much more there is to learn.”
Now, science has caught up with what field researchers and local communities have long suspected.
After more than a decade of DNA sampling, morphological studies, and tracking giraffe movements across Africa, experts have reached a groundbreaking conclusion: giraffes are not one species but four.
On 21 August 2025, the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) formally recognised Northern, Reticulated, Masai, and Southern giraffes as distinct species.
The announcement, made in Windhoek, Namibia, by the IUCN Species Survival Commission’s Giraffe and Okapi Specialist Group (GOSG), overturned decades of classification that treated giraffes as a single species with nine subspecies.
Experts describe it as “the most significant shift in giraffe taxonomy” in more than a century, one that will reshape protection strategies for the world’s tallest land mammal.
“This taxonomic revision reflects the best available science and provides a globally standardized framework to inform conservation,” said Michael Brown, Co-Chair of the IUCN GOSG and Conservation Science Coordinator at the Giraffe Conservation Foundation (GCF).
“Recognising these four species is vital for accurate Red List assessments, targeted action, and coordinated management across borders.”
The decision is rooted in over a decade of research combining genetic, morphological, and biogeographic evidence.
DNA studies revealed four reproductively isolated lineages that diverged hundreds of thousands of years ago. Morphological analysis, particularly of skull and ossicone structures, confirmed the differences.
The GOSG Task Force used a “traffic light system” to weigh the evidence. All four groups received a green light, signalling strong scientific consensus.
For giraffes, taxonomy carries direct implications for survival.
The State of Giraffe 2025 report by GCF shows global numbers at about 117,000, a 30% decline since the 1980s.
Yet the decline is uneven. Southern giraffes are expanding, Masai populations remain stable, Reticulated giraffes are only now recovering from steep losses, and Northern giraffes remain critically endangered at just 7,000.
According to Mulama, this unevenness underscores why species-level recognition matters.
“By treating giraffes as four species rather than one, conservation efforts can be sharpened to address the specific pressures each faces,” he said.
Mulama speaks from a landscape of unusually high giraffe density. Naboisho Conservancy, the second largest in the Masai Mara, is home to some of the region’s richest wildlife concentrations.
Its name, Naboisho, Maasai for “coming together”, reflects the community-led approach that has turned it into a stronghold for giraffes and other species.
The Southern giraffe (Giraffa giraffa) is the most numerous, with about 68,800 individuals. Its growth has been supported largely by South Africa’s network of private game ranches situated near national parks such as Kruger. Reserves like Sabi Sand, Timbavati, and Shamwari have all played a role.
Namibia has also provided one of the clearest success stories.
According to Explorers Against Extinction, the country is home to about 15,000 Angolan giraffes and a smaller population of South African giraffes. In the remote Kunene region, giraffe numbers have risen fivefold since the early 2000s, supported by communal conservancies and long-term monitoring.
In northwest Namibia’s arid landscape, from the Kunene River south to the Hoanib, conservation has raised the desert-dwelling Angolan giraffe population from about 450 individuals in 2022 to 472 by mid-2024, according to the GCF.
Much of this recovery is rooted in Namibia’s communal conservancy model, introduced in 1996.
The framework grants local communities management rights over natural resources and wildlife. Today, 86 communal conservancies cover more than a fifth of the country, creating vast landscapes managed for eco-tourism, habitat protection, and conservation.
The model generates more than US$5.5 million annually for local communities, revenues reinvested into anti-poaching, schools, health services, and wildlife protection.
The Masai giraffe (Giraffa tippelskirchi) is also holding steady, with about 43,900 spread across Kenya and Tanzania.
Translocation projects beyond its core range, including in Rwanda and Zambia, have restored small populations, highlighting the role of cross-border collaboration in conservation.
The Reticulated giraffe (Giraffa reticulata) is also a case of recovery.
Once facing sharp declines, it now numbers around 20,900. Much of this rebound is tied to community conservancies in northern Kenya, where local stewardship and eco-tourism revenues create strong incentives for protection. Conservationists describe it as one of Africa’s more visible success stories.
The Northern giraffe (Giraffa camelopardalis) remains the most threatened, with only about 7,000 left. Yet even here, community action has driven progress.
In Niger, the West African giraffe has climbed from just 49 individuals in the 1990s to nearly 660 today, according to the GCF.
The recovery is anchored in community patrols and the establishment of a “Giraffe Zone” east of Niamey, where local people share farmland with giraffes and benefit from eco-tourism.
To reduce the risks of having all the giraffes in one place, conservationists launched Operation Sahel Giraffe in 2018, moving eight giraffes over 800 kilometres to the Gadabedji Biosphere Reserve.
A second relocation in 2022 transferred four more females, establishing a new wild population.
Local engagement remains central in Africa’s giraffe conservation story.
Community guides working under the Association for the Valorisation of Ecotourism in Niger (AVEN) lead giraffe tourism and monitoring, while initiatives like “One Student, One Acacia” encourage schoolchildren to plant trees to restore giraffe habitat.
According to Mulama, the reclassification also reflects the depth of “African scientific contribution.”
“The sampling, the fieldwork, and the taxonomic analysis that underpin this decision are all grounded in African species, with African scientists and institutions at the centre of the technical process,” he said.
“It shows that Africa is not only providing the wildlife, but also the science and expertise that shape how the world understands it,” he added.
Numbers alone, however, do not tell the full story. On the ground, communities remain the frontline of giraffe protection.
In Kenya’s Samburu region, conservancies have linked eco-tourism revenues to wildlife protection, helping Reticulated giraffes rebound. In Tanzania, Masai giraffes depend on corridors that connect national parks with village lands, preventing fragmentation.
But in parts of Central Africa, particularly where Kordofan giraffes survive, insecurity and conflict undermine protection. Poaching remains a constant threat.
These differences explain why the IUCN’s reclassification matters. As Mulama put it, “it forces global conservation planning to move beyond a one-size-fits-all approach.”
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SOURCE: bird story agency
