GIRAFFE, MASAI*
Giraffa cameleopardalis

Special birth announcement!
Two giraffe calf births within three months!
[ read more, see photos & video ].

You'll find giraffes in South Saharan Africa. Note: in prehistoric times this single species ranged over most open areas in Africa. The giraffe range began to shrink 1400 years ago to its present size.

They like it dry: Giraffes live in the dry savannahs and open woodlands, usually associated with scattered acacia growth.
They concentrate near rivers during the dry season, but scatter widely into deciduous woodlands during the rainy season.

Just browsing: These animals are browsers, plucking leaves, buds and fruits from trees such as acacia, momosa and wild apricot.
By spreading their forelegs and extending them forwards, giraffes can collect some food (fallen fruits, grasses) from the ground. Giraffes drink only occasionally if water is available, when unavailable they can survive several weeks without drinking.

Big hearted to be sure: Giraffes, with their extremely long necks, have a higher blood pressure than any other land animal. This high pressure is needed to force blood up their long neck to their brain.To maintain the pressure, a giraffe's heart is two feet long, weighs 25 pounds and has walls three inches thick.The tallest giraffe on record lived in a London zoo and attained a height of 20 feet.

Giraffes exhibit considerable variations in hair color and pattern, the most common being the reticulated pattern (square block pattern).

*Our giraffes fall into a rarer group called Masai, which have irregular blotchy patterning.

Live long lives: Full size is usually attained in five years for males and seven years for females. In the wild, giraffes live about 26 years. The record age occurred in captivity: 36 years, 2 months.

Babies and stuff: Females become sexually mature in 3.5 years: males mature a year later. Females are able to reproduce up to age twenty. Giraffes will breed over most of their range at any time of the year. Their gestation period averages 457 days (15+ months). Usually, mothers give birth to a single calf, but twins are known to occur.

A newborn calf can usually stand as soon as twenty minutes after birth and will begin to nurse in about an hour. The calf will nurse for up to 13 months and may remain with the mother for another 2-3 months after weaning.

A cross between a camel and leopard? The species name cameleopardalis, (camel leopard) was derived from the first Europeans to see the giraffe who thought it was the offspring of a camel and a leopard.

Active mostly in the evening and early morning, they often rest during the heat of the day. While inactive, they will doze standing up. While dozing, their necks are often held extended forward. In deep sleep, the neck is curved down and back to rest on a hind leg. They may lie down for a while, though in the wild this would make them particularly vulnerable to lion attack.

The giraffes' senses of smell, hearing and vision are acute. They may have the keenest eyesight of any of the African big game species. Their great height increases their visual range.

Giraffes defend themselves by fleeing or, if standing ground to protect their young, by kicking with either fore or hind legs. They can also strike with their head or upper neck by swinging their head against a foe. While usually observed singularly or in small groups, giraffes with young may band together and share "baby sitting" duties; a few adults remain with the young while others go off to feed or drink.

Could run in the Derby: Though their feet are large, their long legs and weighty body requires that giraffes remain on mostly firm ground. In mud or swampy conditions they bog down easily. When walking, the legs on one side advance at the same time (pacing). When running, the hind legs are extended forward outside the forelegs. Over moderate distances, if pressed, a giraffe can outrun a horse. When not pressed but merely loping, it can cover great distances without tiring.

More on giraffes: While not endangered, giraffes have been wiped out by hunting and climatic changes in large areas of their range. The greatest concentration to be found today is on Tanzania and nearby areas. They do well in game preserves and similar areas protected from poachers and trophy hunters.

Status: Threatened.

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