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Historically, giraffe have been translocated across Africa to supplement extant populations, reintroduce extinct populations or to establish new populations, often for conservation and tourism. Such faunal relocations were often carried out disregarding taxonomic affiliation. Today, the small giraffe populations in the Republic of Malawi are assumed to consist of South African giraffe (Giraffa giraffa giraffa), which have likely descended from five individuals translocated from Imire Game Park (Zimbabwe) to Nyala Game Park (Malawi) in 1993. However, during the last 25 years, unknown additional translocations, migrations or unrecognized local populations of potential Masai giraffe (Giraffa tippelskirchi) in Malawi may have resulted in introgressive hybridization. Thus, the current taxonomic affiliation for Malawi’s giraffe is uncertain, calling for a genetic assessment to implement further management. We analyzed …