Giraffe
Scientific name: Giraffa camelopardalis
Common name: Giraffe
Afrikaans: Kammelperd
Setswana: Thutlwa
Description
Giraffes are easily identified due to their exclusively long neck. The legs of giraffes are long and solid. The hind legs are shorter than the front legs. The eyes are quite large, the ears are medium-sized and the muzzle is long. The short mane stands upright. The tail is long and thin with a dark tassel of hair at the tip. Giraffes have short and sandy-coloured coats. They have pelage markings of different shapes, coloured in various shades of brown. This animal has bony horns placed on the top of its head. Normally, the horns of giraffes are medium-sized in both males and females. Male giraffes can sometimes grow another pair of horns behind the first pair. Females are identified by thin and tufted horns while males usually have thick horns with the hair, smoothed due to sparring.
Habitat
Due to their large size, these animals spend a lot of time eating, usually in the mornings and evenings. They rest standing up during the night. In the heat of the day, they will rest in shady areas, regurgitating the food and then ingesting it again. Female giraffes and their young gather into small herds, keeping constantly together, to protect the calves from predators. Males prefer leading solitary lives, travelling long distances to find fertile females. When two rival males encounter each other, they start “necking” – bumping heads and interlocking the necks to defend their mating rights and set up a dominance hierarchy. The winner of the encounter will be allowed to mate with local females.
Diet
Giraffes are herbivorous (folivorous, lignivorous, frugivorous, graminivorous) with their diet, mainly consisting of acacia trees. Being browsers, these animals will also consume flowers, fruits, buds, and wild apricots. In addition, they love eating seeds and fresh grass after the rain. They rarely drink, obtaining about 70% of the required moisture from food.
Behaviour
Giraffes are very family-oriented and stay with their herd for their entire lives. Herds are led by a dominant male and females take turns leading the herd. Giraffes communicate with each other through vocalizations and body language. They also use their long necks to touch each other as a way of communicating affection.
Conservation Status
The giraffe, one of the world’s most iconic animals, is currently facing a serious conservation crisis. The International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) has listed the giraffe as a vulnerable species due to poaching and habitat loss.
Reference