The southern giraffe occurs in southern Africa and includes the Angolan and South African subspecies.
Its large patches have irregular edges. Angolan giraffes in northwestern Namibia can be especially pale.
Angolan giraffes in Namibia sometimes search for bones on the ground, place them in their mouths and chew with their heads held high. They also sometimes try to take a bone from another giraffe. Time spent browsing leaves is interspersed with searching for and chewing bones.
A study published in 2023 reports 153 hours of observations at waterholes in Etosha National Park in 1994, 2002 and 2004. The animals were Angolan giraffes, a subspecies of southern giraffe. Bone chewing was seen on most observation days and sometimes led to difficulties. Females with lodged bones tried but failed to drink. One spent an hour beside the water, entering it and slipping once without drinking. A male had a pelvic bone stuck on his muzzle and was still trying to dislodge it the next day. Even a large giraffe capable of reaching high branches can struggle with an object in its mouth.
An extinction-risk assessment has not been added yet.
In July 2023, 14 Angolan giraffes were moved from a private game farm in Namibia to Iona National Park in Angola to restore the southern giraffe subspecies to its historical range. The Angolan government, African Parks and the Giraffe Conservation Foundation implemented the operation. Preparations included evaluating the source population, habitat suitability, operational and post-release risks and financial feasibility, along with surveying neighbouring communities’ perceptions. This was an implemented regional reintroduction intended to restore a local population.