What is yellow-brown, has spots, and an EXTREMELY long neck? This should be easy: the giraffe! Although the giraffe is probably not usually the first animal you think of when I say "African Migration," let me give you some news--they are still part of it! Giraffe just don't run around as much as zebras and wildebeests, since they wander around in groups on grasslands, so I guess we don't automatically make the connection between them and the Migration. But they are still a prey species of the African Migration (because the Migration occurs year-round, or in other words, ALWAYS). Have fun refreshing your giraffe knowledge!
Giraffe
Size: 14-19 ft / 4-6 m
Weight: 1750-2800 lb / 794-1270 kg
Diet: Herbivore
Lifespan: 25 years in the wild
Appearance: tan color body; brown patches; extremely long neck and legs.
Status:
(numbers decreasing)They are still rather stable, but we need to watch out. There food supply and homes are being lost due to human settlement and cleared land for agricultural uses.
Where should I start? I think I'll start from the bottom and work my way up. Giraffe's legs are very long, sometimes reaching up to 6 feet tall, so unless you're a relatively tall person, I doubt your head will go any higher its hips (or hindquarters). Here's a picture that gives you an idea of the size of a giraffe relative to a 6-ft tall man:
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| Courtesy: National Geographic |
Now let's talk about their necks. I think everyone knows the main purpose of their long neck, right? For eating leaves! Because their long neck makes them so tall, they are able to reach into the high and deep branches of trees to pick out the juiciest leaves in the tree. And like humans, giraffe have favorite dishes as well; they love acacia. Also, due to their height, giraffe can see from a long distance, which helps them keep a lookout for predators and possible signs of danger.
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| Courtesy: National Geographic |
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| Courtesy: Giraffe Boards I don't know if a giraffe prefers to clean their ears like this, but they definitely could if they wanted to! |
If you take a really close look, you can see that all giraffe have little horn-like structures on the top of their head. They are actually called "ossicones," because they are made of ossified cartilage. Giraffe are born with ossicones detached from their head, and it fuses with their skull when they get older. Female giraffe have ossicones with little black tufts at the top, while the ossicones of males are balded, usually due to fights with other males (wacking each other on the neck with their head hurts...but with the horns I bet it hurts even more!)
Despite all the perks giraffe have of being tall, long-legged, and "long-necked," there is one big disadvantage. Because of their long legs and tall overall height, it is extremely risky and dangerous for a giraffe to drink water or bend down at all. In order to do so, they have to spread their legs out (especially front legs) extremely wide so they can drink from a water hole while standing. If they fall over, their chances of standing up in a short a mount of time is pretty slim. So if a giraffe falls when they are being chased by a predator, then they are in really bad luck.
Giraffe Fights
Yes, giraffe fight. Giraffe will fight for territory and possible mates. However, they are almost never fatal. Usually, after extensive neck wacking and long-legged wobbly dances, one giraffe will submit and walk away. In some cases, giraffe will fall over, but unless they are about to die or have very short time, they will just manage to get up and walk away. The winner of a giraffe fight is usually the younger giraffe, since they have less experience and are not as "bulked up" yet.
Here is a video of a giraffe fight, probably the most violent a fight will ever get:
From Youtube, ABC News
Here is the link to the original video on Discovery of the giraffe fight
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I hope you liked this post on facts about the giraffe! My biggest hope is to educate and let everyone know how amazing and beautiful our planet's wildlife is, so we can all realize that killing these animals is wrong.
I'm going to start wrapping up the African Migration in a couple of weeks. Because this topic got dragged on for so long, I probably missed some animals that you were expecting me to cover. Since I'm not exactly sure what the next theme will be yet, I can still take suggestions on what animals to do. Currently, my plan is to cover hyenas next week (10/31~11/1) and gazelles the week after that (11/7~11/8). If you want me to make a post on another animal, feel free to email me at weforwildlife.c@gmail.com with your suggestions, and I add it onto my list of animals to post on (if possible). I hope to see you all in next week's post about hyenas!
Thank you for reading,
~Cheri
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This is one of my favorite animal. They are friendly and won't hurt anything. Thank you for the information!
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