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
West African giraffe giraffe" are now known to be the Kordofan giraffe ("G. c. antiquorum"). Older studies on giraffe subspecies have caused some researchers to question the separate status of "G. c. peralta" and the Kordofan giraffe ("G. c. antiquorum"). Genetic testing published in 2007 confirmed the distinctiveness of the West African giraffe. Most captive giraffes from northwestern Africa are in French zoological parks, a result of the history of French colonialism in what was French West Africa. Those giraffes were formerly treated as "G. c. peralta". However, since genetic analysis revealed that only giraffes to the west of Lake Chad belong to