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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.