Riding The New York Subway

The Angolan Giraffe (Giraffa camelopardalis angolensis) pictured here was photographed near the Okavango Delta in Botswana, Africa. There are nine subspecies of giraffes. The International Union for the Conservation of Nature (IUCN) lists the Giraffe species, as a whole, as “Least Concern.” But the optimistic picture ends there. Each subspecies is encountering its own challenges. As for the Angolan Giraffe, only about 20,000 of this subspecies remains in the wild, far better than the Rothschild Giraffe, which has less than 500 believed to be living in the wild. While the Giraffe species may be enjoying a stable rating from the IUCN, the IUCN does go further to state that their numbers approximated about 140,000 in 1999, but have since declined to around 80,000. And despite being called the Angolan Giraffe, this sub-specie, sadly, is no longer found in Angola. Originally, this animal was found in arid and dry regions of sub-Saharan Africa, wherever trees were likely to be found. Today, its habitat has been significantly reduced due to human encroachment, especially in West Africa where the only surviving giraffe population is in South-western Niger. The remainder of the giraffe population is now in East and South Africa, residing predominately in and near national parks and protected areas.