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Southern Giraffe Accounted for 208 of 446 Single-Species Field Studies in an 80-Year Review

Two male southern giraffes drinking at a waterhole in Hluhluwe-iMfolozi Park, South Africa
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An 80-year review of giraffe research found that southern giraffe (Giraffa giraffa) accounted for 208 of 446 field studies that focused on a single giraffe species. It was the most studied species in the wild, yet the review still identified important gaps in demography and population research. The study was published on 7 April 2026.

The systematic review covered peer-reviewed publications from 1947 through 2024 and retained 817 records. Of these, 493 studied free-ranging giraffes, 290 animals under human care, 23 included both settings and 11 could not be assigned from the available information.

Southern and Masai giraffes dominated single-species field studies

Among the 446 field studies focused on one species, southern giraffes appeared in 208 and Masai giraffes (Giraffa tippelskirchi) in 151. Northern giraffes (Giraffa camelopardalis) appeared in 49 and reticulated giraffes (Giraffa reticulata) in 38. The four species were far from evenly represented in the literature: southern and Masai giraffes accounted for most single-species field studies, while northern and reticulated giraffes had far fewer.

Southern-giraffe research was heavily concentrated in South Africa

Field research had been carried out in 24 African countries, but effort was uneven. Kenya had 153 field studies, South Africa 152 and Tanzania 104. For southern giraffes specifically, 151 studies were associated with South Africa.

High publication numbers did not remove major knowledge gaps

Behaviour, population research and foraging were the most common field themes. Taxonomy, genetics, morphology and anatomy were under-represented across the in-situ literature. For southern giraffes specifically, the authors also identified limited demographic and population-dynamics research despite the large number of studies on the species. The authors therefore recommend more demographic and population work on southern giraffes, while northern and reticulated giraffes need broader field coverage across their ranges.

The imbalance was different in managed giraffes: 176 of 290 studies under human care either did not report a species, involved hybrids or used animals whose species could not be determined. Under the four-species taxonomy, the authors stress that findings from one giraffe species or one country cannot automatically fill knowledge gaps in another.

Sources and image credit

  1. Marneweck, C. J., Brown, M. B., Fennessy, S., Hoffman, R., Kipchumba, A., Momberg, M., Muneza, A., & Fennessy, J. (2026). Eighty years of Giraffa research reveals patterns and imbalances across species. Mammalia, 90(4), 330–340.Primary peer-reviewed open-access Original Study, published online 7 April 2026. The systematic review quantitatively analysed 817 peer-reviewed publications from 1947–2024 and identified taxonomic, geographic and thematic research imbalances.

Image: Bernard DUPONT — two male southern giraffes drinking at Mphafa Hide, Hluhluwe-iMfolozi Park, South Africa, photographed 16 September 2016; cropped for the News format. Source: Wikimedia Commons. Representative image for this story; not presented as an animal or scene from the reported study or event. · CC BY-SA 2.0 · Source

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