In early times, people thought the giraffe was a cross between a camel and a leopard. This led to the word “camelopardalis”. The Arabs called it “xirapha” which means “one who walks fast”

These graceful animals have some fascinating features and habits. They are normally browsers and feed on, amongst others, the tamboti tree, which is very poisonous to human beings. Combretum seeds, also poisonous, are taken frequently. They can go for long periods without drinking water but will drink regularly if water is freely available. A big bull may drink up to 25 litres of water a day.

In spite of its long neck, the giraffe has only 7 neck vertebrae, like most other mammals.

Although their hearts are not exceptionally big in comparison to other mammals, they are very strong. The blood pressure at the heart is about 260/160 compared to 120/80 in a healthy human. The neck arteries have valves to prevent the blood flowing abruptly away from the brain when it lowers its head to drink. It is the only mammal that has valves in arteries.

The horns seem to serve no real purpose but are used by the males in fights. However, they appear to do no real harm. It is possible to identify the sex of the giraffe even if only the head is visible because the females' horns are shorter and more slender and have tufts of hair at the tips. The tips of the bulls' horns are bare.

No individual giraffe has identical markings. They usually become darker with age and this is more pronounced in the males.

They can run at approximately 48 km/h and keep up a brisk pace over a distance of up to 7 km.

The gestation period is about 457 days. The mother-calf relationship is very loose and when the calf is about 6 weeks old, the mother no longer defends it. It has to watch and follow her when she moves or flees from danger. Because of this, the calf mortality is very high – it can be up to 48%.

Come and see them in real life with L&J Tours! For more information, contact Judy at : lj-tours@iafrica.com