Giraffe long neck
It is difficult to believe that an animal like the giraffe, with its long, spindly legs and a gigantic neck, would be able to stand, let alone run. So why do they have such long necks?
It is difficult to believe that an animal like the Giraffe, with its long, spindly legs and a gigantic neck, would be able to stand, let alone run. But you have to see them to realise that they are amongst the most graceful in the animal kingdom.
Found only in Africa, they were fairly common throughout the dry Savannah regions of the Sahara Desert until recently, but now are no longer seen in most of the Western parts of Africa as well as in the Kalahari Desert.
Spot the giraffes
The ancient Romans called the giraffes, ‘Camelopardalis’ meaning a camel marked like a leopard. Because of its spots they believed that the giraffe was a combination of a camel & a leopard. The giraffe’s species name, ‘Giraffa camelopardalis’, is also derived from here.
A little known fact about the spots is that they are unique to each giraffe, much like the human fingerprints. In fact people who study giraffes can recognise individuals just by their spots.
The spots can also help to determine the sub-species; there is only one species of giraffes and nine sub-species, which can be recognised by the patterns of the spots. For e.g. the Masai giraffes from Kenya have a pattern that looks like oak leaves, while the reticulated giraffe appear to be covered with a net.
Goes on and on and on
The Romans chose to focus on the spots, but what makes the giraffe a truly unique animal is its height, it towers over the rest of the animal kingdom with males touching almost 19 feet and females reaching 17 feet. Almost half of its height is due to its neck, which can be upto 8 feet in length and can weight close to 500 to 600 pounds, which is almost 1/5 to 1/6 of the average giraffe’s total weight. The legs take up another 6 feet. What is also interesting is that although their necks are so tall, they are made up of only 7 vertebrae, the same as that in a human neck, although each of the bones can be around ten inches (25.4 centimetres) long. The vertebras are attached to one another by ball & socket joints, which make the neck very flexible.
All the better to eat with
The main reason for the giraffe’s tall neck is that it helps them to reach foliage that is above the reach of most animals. Although they feeds mainly on the Acacia and Combretum trees, giraffe’s will eat a variety of different plants depending on what is available. Using their upper lip and pink & black tongue they grabs leaves, shoots and flowers from trees.
The Acacia tree has thorns to protect its leaves from being eaten, and thus giraffes have a long tongue, 18 to 22 inches, so that they can reach around the thorns. As an added precaution, they coat any thorns that might get in with their thick, sticky saliva.
The downfall
The daily dietary requirement of giraffes is about 75 pounds of vegetation, but they can survive without water for weeks at a time. Even in normal circumstances, they only drinks water every 2 or 3 days since the dew on the leaves as well as the water in the leaves satisfy most of their water requirements, but when it comes to a watering hole, they can drink upto 12 gallons at a time. Perhaps the main reason for not drinking often is that giraffes are most vulnerable when they squat to bring their head down to the water as they can be easily attacked in such a position, especially by crocodiles.
But giraffes are normally safe otherwise because they can see 360 degrees without turning their heads and thus have sufficient warning of approaching predators. Also giraffes have very good eyesight, which combined with their height, provides them an excellent view of the terrain around them, as well as helps them to keep track of other members of the herd. Also their senses of smell and hearing are very sharp. Thus adult giraffes are unlikely to fall prey to hunters like the lions, hyena, leopards, and wild dogs. And they can run very fast, almost 30 miles an hour, covering long distances without tiring. They have a particular way of moving called the pacing, in which the front and rear legs of each side move forward together.
But young giraffes (calves) are defenceless against these killers and need the protection of their mothers, who stand over their calves in order to protect them. And they have strong defence mechanisms, their legs. A well-placed kick by a giraffe can even kill a lion.
Stick out your neck
Giraffe’s have an elaborate mechanism to get blood and oxygen to their heads, as well as to prevent blackouts when they lower their heads. Their necks consist of valves and a tiny network of veins to help the blood reach all the way to the top and to prevent the blood from rushing into their heads when they bring their heads down. Giraffes have enormous hearts, weighing close to 25 pounds, with the pumps running at 60 litres per minute and also have very large lungs to so that air is circulated up and down the 6 to 8 feet long windpipe.
Don’t you need your sleep, graceful one?
Adult giraffes are hardly known to sleep, in any case, not more than an hour a day. While asleep, giraffes rest their necks over their backs as it is very difficult for them to get up and down from the ground. Once on the ground, it takes a complex ritual of shifting their necks forward and backward like a counterbalance as they unfold their legs in order to get back on their feet.
An interesting observation is that their necks are usually at 50 to 60 degrees but when upset or angry, the head and neck can be almost horizontal.
Found only in Africa, they were fairly common throughout the dry Savannah regions of the Sahara Desert until recently, but now are no longer seen in most of the Western parts of Africa as well as in the Kalahari Desert.
Spot the giraffes
The ancient Romans called the giraffes, ‘Camelopardalis’ meaning a camel marked like a leopard. Because of its spots they believed that the giraffe was a combination of a camel & a leopard. The giraffe’s species name, ‘Giraffa camelopardalis’, is also derived from here.
A little known fact about the spots is that they are unique to each giraffe, much like the human fingerprints. In fact people who study giraffes can recognise individuals just by their spots.
The spots can also help to determine the sub-species; there is only one species of giraffes and nine sub-species, which can be recognised by the patterns of the spots. For e.g. the Masai giraffes from Kenya have a pattern that looks like oak leaves, while the reticulated giraffe appear to be covered with a net.
Goes on and on and on
The Romans chose to focus on the spots, but what makes the giraffe a truly unique animal is its height, it towers over the rest of the animal kingdom with males touching almost 19 feet and females reaching 17 feet. Almost half of its height is due to its neck, which can be upto 8 feet in length and can weight close to 500 to 600 pounds, which is almost 1/5 to 1/6 of the average giraffe’s total weight. The legs take up another 6 feet. What is also interesting is that although their necks are so tall, they are made up of only 7 vertebrae, the same as that in a human neck, although each of the bones can be around ten inches (25.4 centimetres) long. The vertebras are attached to one another by ball & socket joints, which make the neck very flexible.
All the better to eat with
The main reason for the giraffe’s tall neck is that it helps them to reach foliage that is above the reach of most animals. Although they feeds mainly on the Acacia and Combretum trees, giraffe’s will eat a variety of different plants depending on what is available. Using their upper lip and pink & black tongue they grabs leaves, shoots and flowers from trees.
The Acacia tree has thorns to protect its leaves from being eaten, and thus giraffes have a long tongue, 18 to 22 inches, so that they can reach around the thorns. As an added precaution, they coat any thorns that might get in with their thick, sticky saliva.
The downfall
The daily dietary requirement of giraffes is about 75 pounds of vegetation, but they can survive without water for weeks at a time. Even in normal circumstances, they only drinks water every 2 or 3 days since the dew on the leaves as well as the water in the leaves satisfy most of their water requirements, but when it comes to a watering hole, they can drink upto 12 gallons at a time. Perhaps the main reason for not drinking often is that giraffes are most vulnerable when they squat to bring their head down to the water as they can be easily attacked in such a position, especially by crocodiles.
But giraffes are normally safe otherwise because they can see 360 degrees without turning their heads and thus have sufficient warning of approaching predators. Also giraffes have very good eyesight, which combined with their height, provides them an excellent view of the terrain around them, as well as helps them to keep track of other members of the herd. Also their senses of smell and hearing are very sharp. Thus adult giraffes are unlikely to fall prey to hunters like the lions, hyena, leopards, and wild dogs. And they can run very fast, almost 30 miles an hour, covering long distances without tiring. They have a particular way of moving called the pacing, in which the front and rear legs of each side move forward together.
But young giraffes (calves) are defenceless against these killers and need the protection of their mothers, who stand over their calves in order to protect them. And they have strong defence mechanisms, their legs. A well-placed kick by a giraffe can even kill a lion.
Stick out your neck
Giraffe’s have an elaborate mechanism to get blood and oxygen to their heads, as well as to prevent blackouts when they lower their heads. Their necks consist of valves and a tiny network of veins to help the blood reach all the way to the top and to prevent the blood from rushing into their heads when they bring their heads down. Giraffes have enormous hearts, weighing close to 25 pounds, with the pumps running at 60 litres per minute and also have very large lungs to so that air is circulated up and down the 6 to 8 feet long windpipe.
Don’t you need your sleep, graceful one?
Adult giraffes are hardly known to sleep, in any case, not more than an hour a day. While asleep, giraffes rest their necks over their backs as it is very difficult for them to get up and down from the ground. Once on the ground, it takes a complex ritual of shifting their necks forward and backward like a counterbalance as they unfold their legs in order to get back on their feet.
An interesting observation is that their necks are usually at 50 to 60 degrees but when upset or angry, the head and neck can be almost horizontal.
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