In Aug. 2025, the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) released a report reclassifying giraffe taxonomy, which may change how organizations attempt conservation efforts in Africa.
Giraffes have undergone a number of taxonomic changes since Carl Linnaeus’s proposed system in 1758, although scientists have traditionally identified them as a single species with various subspecies. However, the IUCN’s Giraffe and Okapi Specialist Group (GOSG) Task Force proposed a thorough and complete overhaul of this system with their 2025 report, which outlines four distinct species.
This study began in 2016, when the Giraffe Conservation Foundation (GCF) of Namibia analyzed skin samples from 190 giraffes throughout Africa. The analysis found that there were greater differences between some of these samples than between grizzly and polar bears, which are distinct species. Despite this evidence, the reclassification of giraffes was a suggestion and not a major topic of reform prior to the GOSG releasing their more detailed report and proposal.
The four species now recognized by the IUCN are Northern giraffes, with three subspecies; Reticulated giraffes; Masai giraffes, with two subspecies; and Southern giraffes, with two subspecies. Each of these species and subspecies face unique challenges, which will guide the IUCN’s Red List classification along with both present and future discussions on conservation.
There are 70,000 Southern giraffes distributed across Africa, making the Southern giraffe a species of “Least Concern” on the 2018 IUCN Red List, whereas the Northern giraffe sits with fewer than 8,000 individuals estimated in the wild, which classifies all three of their subspecies as “Critically Endangered”. These numbers go against the Red List’s 2016 evaluation, which identified giraffes as a single group classified entirely as “Vulnerable.”
The global implementation of a clearer taxonomic framework can make it easier for conservationists to coordinate across national borders, according to Michael Brown, one of the co-authors of the assessment.
Giraffe reclassification was a topic for discussion at the IUCN World Conservation Congress from Oct. 9-15.
