CreatureData

Northern giraffe

Giraffa camelopardalis (Linnaeus, 1758)

VUVulnerablemammals

The northern giraffe (Giraffa camelopardalis) is a species in the family Giraffidae, order Artiodactyla. It has been recorded in 32 countries, most often in Kenya, Tanzania and Uganda. Its IUCN Red List status is Vulnerable.

Northern giraffe (Giraffa camelopardalis)
Photo: Thomas Fuhrmann · CC BY-SA 4.0 · Wikimedia Commons

Quick facts about the northern giraffe

Weight
Not recorded
Length
Not recorded
Height
5.5 msrc for Height
Lifespan
Not recorded
Main food
Not recorded
Habitat
Not recorded
Gestation
457 dayssrc for Gestation
Young per litter or clutch
1src for Young per litter or clutch
Conservation status
Vulnerable (IUCN)src for Conservation status
Recorded in
32 countriessrc for Recorded in

How big is the northern giraffe?

NORTHERN GIRAFFE · HEIGHT 5.5 MADULT HUMAN · HEIGHT 1.7 M
At 5.5 m, the recorded maximum height of the northern giraffe is about 3.2 times the height of an adult human (1.7 m, a fixed reference used for scale).

Where does the northern giraffe live?

Countries with openly licensed sighting records on GBIF. This shows where the species has been recorded, including zoos and introduced populations. It is not a definitive range.

The northern giraffe has been recorded in 32 countries, from 4,241 records.

Tanzania: 160 recordsUnited States of America: 30 recordsArgentina: 2 recordsDem. Rep. Congo: 14 recordsKenya: 3,618 recordsSudan: 33 recordsChad: 14 recordsSouth Africa: 43 recordsBrazil: 33 recordsFrance: 1 recordZimbabwe: 50 recordsBotswana: 9 recordsNamibia: 12 recordsSenegal: 11 recordsBenin: 2 recordsNiger: 1 recordNigeria: 8 recordsCameroon: 2 recordsSierra Leone: 2 recordsCentral African Rep.: 2 recordsZambia: 6 recordsAngola: 4 recordsIsrael: 3 recordsIndia: 3 recordsPoland: 1 recordGermany: 40 recordsDenmark: 15 recordsJapan: 19 recordsEgypt: 2 recordsEthiopia: 14 recordsUganda: 86 recordsS. Sudan: 1 record
  • None on record
  • 1–9
  • 10–99
  • 100–999
  • 1,000+
records per country · small islands are not drawn at this scale

The same figures as a list, most records first

  1. Kenya3,618
  2. Tanzania160
  3. Uganda86
  4. Zimbabwe50
  5. South Africa43
  6. Germany40
  7. Brazil33
  8. Sudan33
  9. United States30
  10. Japan19
  11. Denmark15
  12. Congo - Kinshasa14
  13. Ethiopia14
  14. Chad14
  15. Namibia12
  16. Senegal11
  17. Botswana9
  18. Nigeria8
  19. Zambia6
  20. Angola4
  21. Israel3
  22. India3
  23. Argentina2
  24. Benin2
  25. Central African Republic2
  26. Cameroon2
  27. Egypt2
  28. Sierra Leone2
  29. France1
  30. Niger1
  31. Poland1
  32. South Sudan1

What is the northern giraffe?

Quoted from WikipediaCC BY-SA 4.0

The northern giraffe (Giraffa camelopardalis), also known as the three-horned giraffe, is a species of giraffe native to North Africa.

Once abundant throughout Africa since the 19th century, the Northern Giraffe ranged from Senegal, Mali and Nigeria from West Africa to up north in Egypt. The similar West African giraffe lived in Algeria and Morocco in ancient periods until their extinctions due to the Saharan dry climate.

Giraffes collectively are listed as vulnerable on the IUCN Red List, as the global population is thought to consist of about 97,000 individuals as of 2016.

Wikipedia contributors, “Northern giraffe”, Wikipedia (revision 1370996920), retrieved 2026-11-11. Shared under CC BY-SA 4.0; this block is kept separate from our own text.

What does the northern giraffe sound like?

Anton Baotic, Florian Sicks and Angela S. Stoeger · CC BY-SA 4.0 · Wikimedia Commons

Is the northern giraffe endangered?

The northern giraffe is listed as Vulnerable on the IUCN Red List: it faces a high risk of extinction in the wild.

  1. LCLeast Concern
  2. NTNear Threatened
  3. VUVulnerable
  4. ENEndangered
  5. CRCritically Endangered
  6. EWExtinct in the Wild
  7. EXExtinct

Category via Wikidata (CC0). Find the full assessment on the IUCN Red List. See all Vulnerable species.

How is the northern giraffe classified?

  1. kingdomAnimalia
  2. phylumChordata
  3. classMammalia
  4. orderArtiodactyla
  5. familyGiraffidae
  6. genusGiraffa
  7. SpeciesGiraffa camelopardalis (Linnaeus, 1758)

Synonyms Camelopardalis capensis, Cervus camelopardalis

Names in other languages (20)
  • Girafa do nortePortuguese
  • giraffa settentrionaleItalian
  • Noordelijk giraffeDutch
  • giraffSwedish
  • キタキリンJapanese
  • 努比亚长颈鹿Chinese
  • زرافة شماليةArabic
  • उत्तरी जिराफHindi
  • TwigaSwahili
  • жирафRussian
  • GiraffeEnglish
  • زرافةArabic
  • GiraffeGerman
  • jirafaSpanish
  • GirafeFrench
  • जिराफ़Hindi
  • キリンJapanese
  • GiraffeDutch
  • GirafaPortuguese
  • 长颈鹿Chinese

GBIFWikidataWikipediaNCBI TaxonomyITISEncyclopedia of LifeiNaturalist

Relatives of the northern giraffe

Other species in the same class Mammalia.

LC, Least Concern
Red fox (Vulpes vulpes)

Red fox

Vulpes vulpes

Canidae

VU, Vulnerable
Lion (Panthera leo)

Lion

Panthera leo

Felidae

VU, Vulnerable
Koala (Phascolarctos cinereus)

Koala

Phascolarctos cinereus

Phascolarctidae

NT, Near Threatened
Jaguar (Panthera onca)

Jaguar

Panthera onca

Felidae

EN, Endangered
Tiger (Panthera tigris)

Tiger

Panthera tigris

Felidae

CompareNorthern giraffe vs Red foxNorthern giraffe vs Grey wolfNorthern giraffe vs LionNorthern giraffe vs Koala

Common questions

Answered only where our data holds the answer.

How big is the northern giraffe?

An adult northern giraffe stands 5.5 m tall, according to values recorded on Wikidata.

Where does the northern giraffe live?

The northern giraffe has openly licensed sighting records from 32 countries on GBIF. The most records come from Kenya, Tanzania, Uganda, Zimbabwe and South Africa. These are recorded sightings, not a definitive range.

Is the northern giraffe endangered?

The northern giraffe is listed as Vulnerable on the IUCN Red List, meaning it faces a high risk of extinction in the wild.

How long is the northern giraffe pregnant?

The recorded gestation period is 457 days.

What kind of animal is the northern giraffe?

The northern giraffe (Giraffa camelopardalis) belongs to the family Giraffidae in the order Artiodactyla.

Sources and how to cite this page

Data as of 2026-11-11. How this page is put together.

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APA

CreatureData. (2026). Northern giraffe (Giraffa camelopardalis). Retrieved from https://creaturedata.com/animals/northern-giraffe

MLA

“Northern giraffe (Giraffa camelopardalis).” CreatureData, 2026, https://creaturedata.com/animals/northern-giraffe.

BibTeX
@misc{northern_giraffe_2026,
  title = {Northern giraffe (Giraffa camelopardalis)},
  author = {{CreatureData}},
  year = {2026},
  url = {https://creaturedata.com/animals/northern-giraffe},
  note = {Data as of 2026-11-11}
}