🌍 World Animal Map

Giraffe map Giraffa

Where the giraffe lives: an interactive map of its species and recorded sightings worldwide.

Approximate range, based on recorded sightings. Shapes are drawn by World Animal Map from 3,395 wild occurrence records on GBIF (CC0/CC BY 4.0; captive and fossil records excluded, isolated outliers removed), grouped into 1° grid cells and clipped to land. They show where the animal has been recorded, not an official range; gaps can simply mean no open data. Method · Records on GBIF

Giraffe Mikumi National Park
Photo: Muhammad Mahdi Karim Facebook The making of this document was supported by Wikimedia CH. (Submit your project!) For all , GFDL 1.2, via Wikimedia Commons
Scientific nameGiraffa
Mapped range layers4
Records used3,395 wild occurrence records (GBIF, CC0/CC BY)
GroupHippos, giraffes & zebras

Interesting facts

  • Giraffes, along with the okapi, are the only living members of family Giraffidae in the order Artiodactyla. [source]
  • Studies in captivity found that giraffes sleep intermittently around 4.6 hours per day, mostly at night. [source]
  • Within a few hours of birth, the calf can run around and is almost indistinguishable from a one-week-old. [source]

About the giraffe

Giraffes (genus Giraffa) are large African hoofed mammals. They are the tallest living terrestrial animals and the largest ruminants on Earth. They are classified under the family Giraffidae, along with their closest extant relative, the okapi. Traditionally, giraffes have been thought of as one species, Giraffa camelopardalis, with nine subspecies. Most recently, researchers proposed dividing them into four extant species, with seven subspecies, which can be distinguished morphologically by their fur coat patterns. Six valid extinct species of Giraffa are known from the fossil record.

Species (10)

Species listed in Wikidata as children of Giraffa (fossil-only taxa excluded). Classification is debated for many animals and lists differ between authorities.

Photos

Angolan giraffe (Giraffa camelopardalis angolensis) female with young 2 months
Photo: Charles J. Sharp, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons
Giraffe: Antilocapra white background
Photo: Craig, Hugh, ed., Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons
Giraffe: Birds and nature white background
Photo: Internet Archive Book Images, No restrictions, via Wikimedia Commons

Text in “About”, “Interesting facts” and “Population” is quoted from the Wikipedia article Giraffe (revision 1380081633), licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0. Changes: sentences excerpted verbatim, citations and formatting removed. No text added. Taxa and status: Wikidata Q862089 (CC0).

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