A most unusual animal, so tall and lanky, in fact the tallest mammal on earth plus one of the strongest and most peaceful. But Joan said they can kick real bad, so I didn’t get to ride one. And like the wonderful tour guide she is she told me lots of other things about giraffes as well.
Relative to a 6 foot tall man
Even the giraffe’s tongue is long! The 21 inch (53 centimeter) tongue helps them pluck tasty morsels from treetops like the acacia. They eat about 100 pounds a day everyday and, like cows, regurgitate food and chew it as cud.
This large size can also be a disadvantage as it is very awkward for a giraffe to drink water and makes them very vulnerable to predators like lions and packs of hyenas. Good thing they only need to drink once every several days as most of their water comes from the plants they eat.
The giraffe’s long neck has the same number of cervical vertebrae that we do. But they have elastic blood vessels in their necks allowing them to drink with their heads down without fainting.
They really do almost everything standing up like sleep about 30 minutes a day and even giving birth. Their young endure a rather rude welcome into the world by falling more than 5 feet (1.5 meters) to the ground at birth. These infants can stand in half an hour and run with their mothers an incredible ten hours after birth.
Giraffes and a few other animals such as brown bears and camels move both legs on one side and then both legs on the other side. Every step they take is about 15 feet (4.57 meters) in length.
Male giraffe
You can tell the difference between a male and female giraffe by looking at their horns or ossicones. The male has shorter hair which reveals an obvious bump of cartilage while the female’s longer hair hides the cartilage.
The name giraffe is derived from the Arab word “Xirapha,” which means “the one who walks very fast.” Their scientific name is camelopardalis. This is the Latin version of cameleopard because of their beautiful spotted coats.
While no two individuals have exactly the same pattern, giraffes from the same area appear similar.
They are incredibly beautiful. And thanks for all that info!
A brilliant post Gaelyn and the pictures are stunning. They are the most incredible animals and fascinating to watch.
Jip, giraffe truly are magnificent animals. So magnificent that they invented bungi jumping (seeing that the baby falls 1,5meters while attached to the ambilical cord.
Something else is that a group of giraffe is called a journey of giraffe.
So fascinating and beautiful! Your pictures are great, I love the one with the giraffe walking down the road.
Excellent photos and post, Gaelyn. I'm beginning to catch up on posts although my new camera is keeping me occupied for hours! (((Hugs))) Jo
Looking forward to your S.A posts! Have many fond memories of traveling through Mpumalonga.
My antelope skull is actually a plastic facsimile from the Sears & Roebuck catalog circa 1988 when I was in an Out of Africa phase. No animals were harmed in the making of Still Life Photo!
People ride giraffes? I never heard of that before. That sounds dangerous. They're beautiful animals, though.
Not sure why it has taken me so long to get to your blog when I read so much about you in SA Photographs!!! Now I have been here I will be back. Game Ranger was a job I would have loved, I did spend 5 years though, working with the wild life research officer, in what is now Harare Zimbabwe. It was the best 5 years of my life. Diane
I admire these animals so much and all the animals there that are still making ends meet. It is a wonderful thing to see.
My early experiences with the Japanese and Germans centered around the newsreels we sometimes saw at the movies. Most were about the war. It is hard to imagine that most had no telephone, no radio and no television. So news was gossip at the post office where we all went twice a day to get our mail. That and news in letters from overseas. And, the news reels and Hollywood put out a lot of war movies with the same Japanese looking actors playing the mean parts.
I have to ask sometimes what the world would be like in 2010 if either the Japanese had won the war or the Germans?
Gaelyn, This is a great post about giraffes with lots to learn, plus fabulous photos. My friend, Mary, collects everything giraffe! BTW, her next jaunt is Mexico via Baja CA on a motorcycle, then Kuala Lumpur, Vietnam, and Thailand in July. (Hopefully, not on a motorcycle!)
I enjoyed learning more about them as I have only seen them in zoos… Michelle
Given the chance I bet you would ride one!
It must have been awesome to see these giraffes in the wild. They are such a beautiful animal, and your photos of them are terrific. Excellent post and very informative.
Giraffe's are my favorite critters. We had one die recently in the Tulsa Zoo and it made everybody very sad.
That first picture is beautiful! Interesting post.
Totally beautiful!!!! Great info and excellent pictures. MB
How incredibly lucky you were to see all this…gorgeous ..what an animail!
Great photos! Looks like you got to observe them or quite some time. What a wonderful day for you.
Amazing! Now that's something we don't see in our National Parks! Could you imagine giraffes running around at the Grand Canyon? 🙂