A giraffe is a giraffe is a giraffe…right? Not anymore. The world’s tallest animals comprise a group of species rather than just one, according to a new study. Giraffes have long been considered to represent a single species classified into various subspecies. But geneticists now realize that at least six species of giraffe amble across Africa. The Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS) supported the research, which was recently published in the journal BMC Biology.

“Some of these giraffe populations number only a few hundred individuals and need immediate protection,” said the study’s lead author and WCS associate David Brown. A geneticist at UCLA, Brown is also a founding member of the International Giraffe Working Group (IGWG). “Lumping them all into one species obscures the reality that some kinds of giraffe are on the very brink.”
 
The new classifications are forcing experts to re-examine giraffe conservation efforts in order to meet the needs of each species. The most threatened potential species include the reticulated giraffe (currently Giraffa camelopardalis reticulata), Nigerian giraffe (currently Giraffa camelopardalis peralta), and Rothschild giraffe (currently Giraffa camelopardalis rothschildi). These three populations inhabit distinct regions of Africa and number only 3,000, 160, and a few hundred individuals, respectively.

The researchers emphasize that all giraffes are under threat. Having suffered an estimated 30 percent population decline over the past decade, fewer than 100,000 giraffes remain across Africa. The IGWG has developed a continent-wide giraffe database, and in collaboration with WCS and others, will endeavor to develop the first comprehensive species assessment.

On the bright side, the discovery of large antelope herds in Southern Sudan—historically the epicenter of giraffe evolution—raises hopes that large giraffe populations may also exist there. Southern Sudan was off limits to conservationists for two decades due to warfare and instability in the region. When WCS conservationists returned to the region in January 2007 to conduct aerial wildlife surveys, they documented 400 giraffes.
 
The giraffe genetic study was a collaboration between the University of California, Los Angeles; Omaha’s Henry Doorly Zoo; and the Mpala Research Centre in Kenya.

http://www.wcs.org/353624/wcs_giraffespecies