[4] The similar West African giraffe lived in Algeria and Morocco in ancient periods until their extinctions due to the Saharan dry climate.

Male northern giraffes have a third cylindrical ossicone in the center of the head just above the eyes, ranging from 76 to 127 mm (3 to 5 in) long.

In East Africa, they are mostly found in Kenya and southwestern Ethiopia, and rarely in northeastern Democratic Republic of the Congo and South Sudan.

Once widespread in West Africa, a few hundred Northern giraffes are confined in the Dosso Reserve of Kouré, Niger.

They lived in Morocco, Libya and Egypt until their extinction there around AD 600, as the drying climate of the Sahara made conditions impossible for giraffes.