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Giraffes necking

OK, I’ve heard of people necking but watching giraffes necking was a whole new experience.  While visiting Augrabies Falls National Park in northwestern South Africa we took a little game drive and were fortunate enough to see giraffes necking.

This activity often involves males establishing dominance by winning a bout of necking.  Not usually of high intensity they rub and lean against each other sometimes for more than half an hour.  After a duel, it is common for them to caress and court each other leading up to mounting and climax.  Sometimes they get violent and injury follows.

This looks more like a dance to me.

2014 South Africa diversity Ecotour, South Africa , , 18 Comments

Giraffes at Kruger National Park

Giraffe Kruger National Park South AfricaA 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.

Giraffe and man comparisonRelative to a 6 foot tall man

 A giraffe’s legs alone are taller than many humans—about 6 feet (1.8 meters). These long legs allow giraffes to run as fast as 35 miles (56 kilometers) an hour over short distances and cruise comfortably at 10 miles (16 kilometers) an hour over longer distances.

Giraffe Kruger National Park South AfricaEven 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.

Giraffe Kruger National Park South AfricaThis 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.

Giraffe Kruger National Park South AfricaThe 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.

Giraffes Kruger National Park South AfricaThey 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 Kruger National Park South AfricaGiraffes 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.

Giraffe Kruger National Park South AfricaMale 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.

Giraffe Kruger National Park South AfricaThe 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.

Giraffe Kruger National Park South AfricaWhile no two individuals have exactly the same pattern, giraffes from the same area appear similar.

Kruger National Park, South Africa , , 19 Comments

Lijit

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