African Plains - Northern Giraffe (Giraffa camelopardalis)

Wouldn’t it make more sense to label the Bronx’s giraffes as the following, especially in regards of the numerous giraffe hybrids across America?

“Northern” Giraffe / Giraffa sp.

@Austin the Sengi If I recall correctly they may have pure northern giraffes.

If so, is there any evidence to support the claim?

I believe Bronx's giraffes are hybrids.

@USZOOfan42 They do not, they are hybrids as stated.

@Austin the Sengi I think Jim Breheny has publicly stated they have the only pure Rothschild’s Giraffe in North America.

@USZOOfan42 The giraffe seen here does not look like pure Rothschild to me - also their herd as a whole is definitely not pure. Their oldest female who came from SDZSP might be, but I am not aware of any information that confirms Bronx has pure animals.

@USZOOfan42, as much as I stand for Jim and all that he does. I stand with Great Argus’ comment and say that these are probably not pure giraffes.

The only reason I labeled it as such is because the zoo has them signed as Giraffa camelopardalis, which I assumed all generic giraffes were (as I don't label Giraffes at the subspecies level unless it's a Maasi Giraffe per convention). iNaturalist defaults to Northern Giraffe as the English name for this species.

Perhaps this notation is now outdated given the status of Giraffe taxonomy, and it should be labeled as just Generic Giraffes and only at the genus level?

Otherwise, I agree these are hybrids; I believe Maasi are the only pure subspecies?

@Astrotom3000 Yup - Masai are the only pure subspecies being actively bred/propagated in AZA zoos. There are a couple pure Baringo giraffes kicking around in AZA/non-AZA facilities (Jack, North Carolina's breeding male giraffe, is a pure Baringo giraffe, B. Bryan Preserve's got all male Baringo giraffes)