Giraffes are at risk of extinction with some subspecies now listed as ‘critically endangered’ for the first time.

The latest International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) Red List of Threatened Species has placed the Kordofan and Nubian giraffes just one stage from extinct in the wild, with fewer than 4,650 animals left.

The Reticulated, Thornicroft’s, and West African giraffes and are also listed as endangered or vulnerable.

And although Masai giraffes are yet to be assessed, numbers have plummeted in recent years and conservationists expect they will soon be added to the red list.

Only the Angolan giraffe – which lives in Botswana, Namibia and Zimbabwe is out of danger, and listed as of least concern although numbers of Rothschild’s giraffe are improving after intensive conservation work, and are now listed as near threatened.