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GIRRAFE/TWIGA
Giraffe, the tallest living animal,
instantly recognizable by its exceptionally long neck. Male giraffes
average about 5.3 m (17 ft) high, but some grow to a height of almost 6 m
(20 ft)—tall enough to span two floors of a typical office building.
Giraffes live in tree-scattered terrain in Africa.
The giraffe is the better
known of two species in the giraffe family. The other species is the
okapi, an animal that was not even discovered by scientists until about
1900. Although much shorter than the giraffe, the okapi also has a long
neck and eats leaves, and both animals have long tongues and
skin-covered horns. The giraffe’s ancestors first appeared in central
Asia about 15 million years ago, but the earliest fossil records of the
giraffe itself, from Israel and Africa, date back about 1.5 million
years.
Giraffes live in savanna and open woodland,
habitats where the available food varies throughout the year. During the
dry season, the animals eat evergreen leaves, but once the rainy season
begins, they switch to new leaves and stems that sprout on deciduous
trees. When there is a choice, male and female giraffes feed in
different ways. Males concentrate on leaves from the highest branches,
while the females arch their necks to eat closer to the ground. This
behavior is so characteristic that a giraffe’s sex can be identified
from a long distance away simply by its stance while eating. Male
giraffes are also more inclined to wander into dense woodland, a habitat
that females generally avoid.
Giraffes are not great
travelers, despite their long legs. They cannot walk over swampy ground
because their hooves quickly sink, and they very rarely wade across
rivers. Giraffes on opposite banks of a river may never come into
contact, unless the water level subsides.
Giraffes spend up to half
their time feeding, and most of the remainder is taken up either by
searching for food or slowly digesting what they have eaten. Giraffes
are ruminants (animals that regurgitate partially digested food and chew it again) like sheep and cows. Giraffes are mostly diurnal
(active during the day). Sometimes they doze during the daytime, often
while standing. They normally lie down only at night, tucking their feet
under the body and usually keeping the head upright. However, when a
giraffe is sleeping—something it does for just a few minutes at a
time—it curves its neck around and rests its head on or near its rump.
Although giraffes are
social animals, their herds are less structured than those of most
other mammals. A typical herd of giraffes contains up to ten members,
and animals can leave or join it at any time. The giraffes are often so
widely scattered that they seem out of contact with one another, but the
animal’s keen eyesight can keep neighbors in view from great distances
away. Giraffe herds do not have a leader, and individual giraffes show
no particular preferences for others in the herd. Notable exceptions to
this rule are young males, which often form bachelor herds, and females
with calves, which often feed together.
One of the most striking
elements of giraffe behavior is the duel between males fighting for
mating privileges. Giraffe duels are among the most extraordinary in the
animal kingdom. They start when two males approach each other and begin
to rub and intertwine their necks. This behavior—known as
necking—allows the opponents to assess each other’s size and strength.
Often, necking alone is enough to establish seniority. If not, the
rivals begin to exchange blows with their heads. Each giraffe braces its
front legs and swings its head upward and over its shoulder. If a blow
lands solidly—and many do not—the recipient may stagger under the
impact, and in rare cases may even collapse onto the ground. More often
the contest breaks off after a few minutes, and the loser simply walks
away.
REPRODUCTION
Giraffe Birth
Giraffe BirthAfter a gestation period of 15 months, the life
of a giraffe calf begins with an unceremonious drop to the ground.
Within 20 minutes the calf has recovered from the experience and is able
to stand on its own.
Female giraffes start to
breed when they are about four years old, and they have a gestation
period of almost 15 months—one of the longest in the animal world. Males
start breeding at about age five, when they begin the ritual combat
over mates. Giraffes are only weakly territorial, and a successful male
will mate with receptive females whenever and wherever it finds them.
Over a year later, when a pregnant female is ready to give birth, she
makes her way to a calving area that she will use throughout her life.
The moment of birth is dramatic, with the mother standing on all fours
and the calf tumbling onto the ground. Remarkably, the calf is rarely
injured by its fall.
Newborn giraffes are often on
their feet within 20 minutes and are soon feeding on their mothers’
milk. They are about 2 m (6 ft) tall at birth, and double their height
in their first year. They are weaned at one year and become fully
independent by 15 months of age. Females are fully grown by age five and
males by age seven.
