The IUCN currently recognizes only one species of giraffe, with nine subspecies, one of which is the Nubian giraffe.[1] The Nubian giraffe, along with the whole species, were first known by the binomenCervus camelopardalisdescribedbySwedishzoologistCarl Linnaeus in the Systema Naturæ per regna tria naturæ, secundum classes, ordines, genera, species, cum characteribus, differentiis, synonymis, locis in 1758. He described the giraffe from EthiopiaorSennarofEastern Sudan.[4]
Following Linnaeus's description of the Nubian giraffe, several specimens were described by other naturalists and zoologists since the end of the 18th century under different scientific names, which are all considered synonyms of Giraffa camelopardalis camelopardalis today:[citation needed]
A 2016 analysis of giraffe subspecies proposed that the Rothschild's giraffe (G. c. rothschildi) could be considered a conspecificecotype of the Nubian giraffe,[5] but these results are not definitive.[6]
The Nubian giraffe has sharply defined chestnut-colored spots surrounded by mostly white lines, while undersides lack spotting. The median lump is particularly developed in the male giraffe.[7]
The most extraordinary characteristic of the Nubian giraffe is that the extreme length of the forelegs gives the animal a huge stride, so that in spite of a rather slow galloping rhythm it can move at speeds up to 30 miles per hour.[8]
Giraffes occurred everywhere in Africa; the Nubian giraffe was widespread throughout North Africa, from Kenya to Egypt. The giraffe lives in savannahs and woodlands. The Nubian giraffe currently lives in eastern South Sudan and southwestern Ethiopia, and isolated pockets in Uganda and Kenya. It was estimated in 2010 that fewer than 250 live in the wild, although this number was uncertain.[9] However, as of 2016, it was estimated that 2,150 Nubian giraffes live in the wild, 1,500 of those of the Rothschild'secotype.[10] Fewer than 200 now live in western Ethiopia and about 450 in eastern South Sudan. There are 800 in Kenya and more than 1,550 in Uganda.[3]