Giraffe

Characteristics

Knob-like horns are present on the head and are more developed in adult bulls.

Giraffe are mainly browsers using their prehensile upper lip and long tongue to grasp vegetation.

The giraffe has a distinctive walking gait, moving both legs on one side forward at the same time

At a gallop the gait changes, and the giraffe simultaneously swings the hind legs ahead of and outside the front legs, reaching speeds of 50 kms an hour.

It's heavy head moves forward with each powerful stride, then swings back to stay balanced.

Family Life

They breed at any time but usually at the end of the rains having a gestation period of 15 months and only one offspring per birth.

Giraffes have a highly efficient blood circulation system. Their heart beat is 150 times/min as compared to an elephant at 25 times.
This prevents dizziness when they move their heads up and down on average through 6 metres when drinking water

Defence Strategies

Bulls fight one another by necking, testing their strength by pushing like human arm wrestlers.

Ancient cultures in Africa revered the giraffe, as some modern cultures do today, and commonly depicted it in prehistoric rock and cave paintings.

The giraffe is generally a docile animal but has been known to kill a lion with a sharp kick of it's forelegs