The Angolan giraffe (''Giraffa camelopardalis angolensis'' or ''Giraffa giraffa angolensis''), also known as the Namibian giraffe, is a subspecies of giraffe that is found in northern

Namibia Namibia (, ), officially the Republic of Namibia, is a country in Southern Africa. Its western border is the Atlantic Ocean. It shares land borders with Zambia and Angola to the north, Botswana to the east and South Africa to the south and ea ...

, south-western

Zambia Zambia (), officially the Republic of Zambia, is a landlocked country at the crossroads of Central, Southern and East Africa, although it is typically referred to as being in Southern Africa at its most central point. Its neighbours are t ...

Botswana Botswana (, ), officially the Republic of Botswana ( tn, Lefatshe la Botswana, label= Setswana, ), is a landlocked country in Southern Africa. Botswana is topographically flat, with approximately 70 percent of its territory being the Kalaha ...

, and western

Zimbabwe Zimbabwe (), officially the Republic of Zimbabwe, is a landlocked country located in Southeast Africa, between the Zambezi and Limpopo Rivers, bordered by South Africa to the south, Botswana to the south-west, Zambia to the north, and ...

Taxonomy

A 2009 genetic study on this subspecies suggests the northern

Namib Desert The Namib ( ; pt, Namibe) is a coastal desert in Southern Africa. The name is of Khoekhoegowab origin and means "vast place". According to the broadest definition, the Namib stretches for more than along the Atlantic coasts of Angola, Nami ...

and

Etosha National Park Etosha National Park is a national park in northwestern Namibia and one of the largest national parks in Africa. It was proclaimed a game reserve in March 1907 in Ordinance 88 by the Governor of German South West Africa, Friedrich von Lindequist. ...

populations each form a separate subspecies. However, genetic studies based on mitochondrial DNA do not support the division into two subspecies., but could identify giraffes in southern

as the Angolan giraffe, suggesting a further eastward distribution than expected.

Description

This subspecies has large brown blotches with edges that are either somewhat notched or have angular extensions. The spotting pattern extends throughout the legs but not the upper part of the face. The neck and rump patches tend to be fairly small. The subspecies also has a white ear patch.

Habitat

Home range size of Angolan giraffes was found to be larger in unproductive areas such as the

and much smaller in more productive areas such as

Lake Manyara National Park Lake Manyara National Park is a protected area in Tanzania's Arusha and Manyara Regions, situated between Lake Manyara and the Great Rift Valley. It is administered by the Tanzania National Parks Authority, and covers an area of including about ...

. However, that home range size could be affected by abiotic(e.g climate), biotic(e.g forage availability, predator densities) and human influence(e.g population growth)

Seasonal movement

As far as seasonal movements of giraffes were concerned, they were not as distinctive as those in other giraffe populations around the world. Male Giraffe moves longer than Female giraffe and also it has longer average daily movement (5.64km compared to 1.87km in 180 days during hot-dry season).

Foraged activity

Angolan Giraffe tends to forage into the mountain during the cold-dry and early hot-dry season. It mainly eats

Commiphora The genus of the myrrhs, ''Commiphora'', is the most species-rich genus of flowering plants in the frankincense and myrrh family, Burseraceae. The genus contains approximately 190 species of shrubs and trees, which are distributed throughout the ...

for living.

Conservation

Approximately 13,000 animals are estimated to remain in the wild; and about 20 are kept in zoos. Giraffa camelopardalis angolensis (courting).jpg, Courting

Angolan giraffe (Giraffa camelopardalis angolensis) male head composite.jpg, Male

Angolan giraffe (Giraffa camelopardalis angolensis) female head.jpg, Female

Angolan giraffe (Giraffa camelopardalis angolensis) female with young 2 months.jpg, Female with young 2 months

Chobe National Park Chobe National Park is Botswana's first national park, and also the most biologically diverse. Located in the north of the country, it is Botswana's third largest park, after Central Kalahari Game Reserve and Gemsbok National Park, and has one ...

References

External links

* * Angolan giraffe Mammals of Southern Africa Mammals of Angola Mammals of Namibia Mammals of Zambia Mammals of Botswana Mammals of Zimbabwe Angolan giraffe {{eventoedungulate-stub