Northern giraffe are considered Vulnerable to extinction by the IUCN. In 2016, around 97,000 individuals from all subspecies were present in the wild. There are currently 5,195 northern giraffes. In the current IUCN taxonomic scheme there is only one species of giraffe with the name "G. camelopardalis" and nine subspecies. Three subspecies of northern giraffes are proposed. The giraffes have two horn-like protuberances known as ossicones on their foreheads. The northern giraffe's are longer and larger than that of the southern giraffes', though male northern giraffes have a third cylindrical ossicone in the center of the head just above the eyes which
Southern giraffe binomial name "Cervus camelopardalis". Morten Thrane Brünnich classified the genus "Giraffa" in 1772. Once considered a subspecies of the conglomerate "Giraffa camelopardalis" species, recent studies proposed the southern giraffe as a separate species of a reorganised genus "Giraffa", under the binomial name "Giraffa giraffa". However, the taxonomic scheme has been criticized, and currently the IUCN recognizes only one species of giraffe with nine subspecies. Two subspecies of southern giraffe are proposed. The Cape subspecies of the southern giraffe has dark, somewhat rounded patches "with some fine projections" on a tawny background colour. The spots extend down the legs and get