Giraffe subspecies ID Pics. What are the visual differences?

[Game Warden]

There are ten subspecies of Giraffe:

 

Angolensis - Angolan giraffe, Smokey giraffe.

 

Antiquorum - Kordofan giraffe.

 

Camelopardalis - Nubian giraffe.

 

Congoensis or Ladoensis - Congo giraffe.

 

Giraffa - South African giraffe, Cape giraffe.

 

Peralta - West African, Nigerian giraffe.

 

Reticulata - Reticulated giraffe.

 

Rothschildi - Rothschild’s giraffe.

 

Thornicrofti -Thornicroft’s giraffe.

 

Tippelskirchi - Masai giraffe, Kilimanjaro giraffe.

 

With your photos, please include the subspecies and when and where taken.

[Safaridude]

Maasai Giraffe (Serengeti, Tanzania) - the patterns are "blotchy", though as you can see from the male on the right, the patterns vary.

 

Reticulated Giraffe (Meru, Kenya) - crisp, polygonal patterns extending all the way down the legs.

 

Rothschild's Giraffe (Murchison Falls, Uganda) - polygonal patterns not as crisp as in the reticulated. Lines separating the patterns are thicker. The patterns fade out in the legs.

 

An intermediate form? (Sosian Ranch, Kenya) - interestingly, giraffes in western Laikipia appear to have both reticulated and Rothschild's traits.

 

Southern Giraffe (Nylsvley, South Africa) - patterns duller and not as "blotchy" as those of the Maasai giraffe. The dead giveaway is that they don't occur in East Africa!

 

Thornicroft's Giraffe (S. Luangwa, Zambia) - very similar to the southern giraffe but smaller.

 

[egilio]

Thornicroft's is indeed smaller than Southern, but also (generally) a lighter head, and no spots low on the legs.

[Game Warden]

Thanks for getting us started @@Safaridude and for your additional comment @@egilio.

[Game Warden]

Who can update this topic with more id pics?

 

Matt.

[Game Warden]

So, are there 9 or 10 subspecies?

[michael-ibk]

(Referring to deleted content):

 

Apparently Kingdon does it the other way ´round - his field guide (1997) says there are 8 subspecies, including congoensis but not antiquorum. He describes Rothschild´s as hybrids only.

 

This side lists 9, omitting congoensis, just like your FB link:

 

http://www.giraffeconservation.org/giraffe_facts.php?pgid=6

 

See also here, 9 (sub)species or only even 6 according to this:

 

http://www.livescience.com/27336-giraffes.html

 

9 (Sub)species listed also here (with good comparison pics):

 

http://giraffespotter.org/Learn/Index

Edited December 14, 2018 by michael-ibk