Yes, mostly. I think anything more Rothschild's I've seen has been hybrid though. I've seen some photos, but they seemed fairly similar to me. (Wondering hybrids again...)
Why Reticulated Giraffe instead of other subspecies?
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Yes, mostly. I think anything more Rothschild's I've seen has been hybrid though. I've seen some photos, but they seemed fairly similar to me. (Wondering hybrids again...)
Compare and contrast:
Thanks TLD! Yes, I think all the "Rothschild's" I've seen are hybrids.
Basically, all the non-Masai giraffes in American zoos are treated as hybrid stock (as per the studbook) despite what the zoos may claim them to be.
I was thinking about making a thread on this and that is why aren't there any Kordofan Giraffes in the US? I love that they have that "orange" tinge to their coloration. Also, along with the West African, they're the most endangered giraffe subspecies. I know that they're in Paris, Plackendael, Basel and several other EAZA zoos, but why not import some into the US?
For long established African species in the US they do seem to come from former British colonies. Whether that was intentional or not is the question.
That's what I refer to them as!
As far as the US populations of giraffes go, Masai are the only pure population. All of the Reticulated and all but a very tiny handful of Rothschild's are all hybrids with each other and are managed as one population by the AZA. Most zoos call their animals Reticulated despite this fact, regardless of which phenotype they take after. Some still use both names, though, despite actively breeding them together. Bronx does this, for example, as their bull is a "Reticulated" while all their females are "Rothschild's". As for pure Rothschild's, I know that the San Diego Zoo Safari Park still has a few pure animals mixed in with their their hybrid stock, the B. Bryan Preserve's bachelor herd is all pure, and the Audubon's Species Survival Center has a couple pure animals. There may be some more left, but I don't know where they are and they're undoubtedly die off before too long.
As for the original question posed in this thread, I think the reason the US in particular tends to use Reticulated as the standard giraffe is because that's the name and phenotype most often used by US zoos throughout history. Wikipedia even lists Reticulated as being the most common giraffe in zoos, despite none of America's animals being pure and Rothschild's being the most common in Europe.
~Thylo
A history of why would be interesting if hard to research. Why the Reticulated/Rothschild hybrids became the dominant phenotype in US zoos. Instead of say South or West African which were closer to the US and also British colonies (Nigeria and South Africa).
I've long been frustrated and somewhat confused by the fact that essentially no zoo that I'm aware of will just use the label that the AZA Antelope and Giraffe TAG uses in the name of the SSP: "Generic Giraffe" - as you very clearly outlined it is almost always more accurate and I think could make an interesting education point if presented correctly.
What I tend to find most annoying is the way that a zoo will put out a press release saying that they have bred "an endangered Rothschild's Giraffe" (or whichever other form) when it is in fact a hybrid and they know it.
There was one news item I read several years ago (not from an American zoo) which stated that the birth in question was very important because one of the parents was a pure Rothschild's Giraffe which are endangered.
This is what I have been wondering about for some time. I understand that they haven't officially recognized subspecies of giraffes as new species, yet at the same time they still mention Reticulated or Masai. I used to see signs describing specific giraffes as Reticulated/Rothschild, however in recent years they have just switched to Reticulated. It's confusing to me why they are switching to two subspecies as the majority with giraffes yet other animals they make a clear distinction between the subspecies, at least in the US.