The short answer
The reticulated giraffe (Giraffa reticulata) is the giraffe most people picture: deep, liver-red patches divided by sharp, bright-white lines, like cracked mud or a net. It is now one of the four recognised species, has no subspecies, and numbers about 20,901 individuals, mostly in northern Kenya. After decades of decline it is increasing again, thanks in large part to community conservancies and one of the most advanced photographic-monitoring programmes in African conservation.
Snapshot
| Attribute | Detail |
|---|---|
| Scientific name | Giraffa reticulata |
| Subspecies | None |
| ~2025 population | ~20,901 |
| Trend | Increasing |
| Core range | Northern and eastern Kenya; smaller numbers in Somalia and Ethiopia |
| Coat | Large, sharp-edged red-brown polygons split by crisp white lines |
| Status note | Previously assessed Endangered on the IUCN Red List |
Identification
The reticulated giraffe's coat is the most instantly recognisable of any giraffe: bold, geometric patches in deep chestnut, separated by narrow, vivid white channels that run all the way down the legs. "Reticulated" comes from reticulum, Latin for net. The contrast is sharper and the lines cleaner than in the ragged-edged Masai or the blotchy southern giraffe.
Where reticulated giraffes live
This is a giraffe of the arid and semi-arid rangelands of the Horn of Africa — northern and eastern Kenya above all, with remnant populations in war-affected parts of Somalia and southern Ethiopia. Much of its Kenyan range is not national park but a mosaic of community and private land, where giraffes move across working rangelands shared with people and livestock. That makes coexistence, not fences, the heart of its conservation.
Threats
- Rangeland fragmentation from expanding settlement, cultivation, and infrastructure that severs movement corridors.
- Poaching and snaring, including for meat and body parts, particularly where enforcement is thin.
- Drought, which stresses browse and water and can hit calves hardest — a growing risk as the climate shifts.
- Competition and coexistence pressures with a rising human and livestock population across the northern rangelands.
- Insecurity in the Somali and Ethiopian parts of the range, which makes protection and even counting difficult.
What is working
The reticulated giraffe's recovery is a community-conservancy story. Across northern Kenya, locally governed conservancies have kept large landscapes open to wildlife, employed community scouts, and reduced poaching — benefiting giraffes alongside elephants and other species. The region also hosts pioneering photographic identification work: because each giraffe's coat pattern is unique and unchanging, researchers can track thousands of individuals from photos, producing some of the best population data for any giraffe. Those methods feed directly into the survey estimates behind the 20,901 figure.
The reticulated giraffe shows that giraffes and people can share the same land — if the people who live there have a stake in keeping it wild.
What donors and supporters can do
Effective support for reticulated giraffes flows through community conservancies, scout programmes, and monitoring. The honest ask is to help fund the ranger patrols, coexistence agreements, and photographic surveys that turned this species' trend around — not to claim a fixed price per animal. See how to help giraffes for practical, vettable options.
Keep reading
- The four giraffe species, explained
- Northern giraffe: conservation profile
- How giraffes are counted: survey methods
Sources
- IUCN — Four giraffe species officially recognised (2025)
- Giraffe Conservation Foundation — State of Giraffe 2025
- San Diego Zoo Wildlife Alliance — giraffe
Reviewed against IUCN and Giraffe Conservation Foundation sources. Last updated July 2026. Spotted an error? Tell us — a reference earns trust by correcting fast.