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General Information
Giraffes used to roam the plains of Africa but today they are confined to the open woodlands and wooded grasslands south of the Sahara.
The males can grow to a height of 5.2 metres and can weigh as much as 1400 kg. The females may reach 4.7metres in height and 950 in weight.
The body is covered with an unmistakable patchwork pattern which varies with the different 8 sub species. The older bulls are darker in colour than the females and the young. Both sexes have a pair of stubby horns on top of the head.
Habitat
Giraffes are found in abundance mainly in game reserves and conservation areas. They are found where there is abundance of acacia trees. They live in herds of up to 30 individuals but this grouping is neither permanent nor stable, as there is considerable movement between the herds. Only the cow and her calf establish a stable unit. Adult bulls spend much of their time alone although some form of hierarchy is present within the herd, with the dominant bulls having priority access to the oestrus cows. Young bulls engage in a ritualized fight called 'necking' to determine their status.
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Feeding and Breeding
Giraffes feed frequently throughout the day and night, resting only in the hottest hours of the day. Adult bulls eat about 66 kg of leaves. Their heights allow them access to foliage, flowers and shoots out of reach to all other browsers. Males can feed with their heads vertically stretched while the females feed with their heads in a horizontal position, thereby reducing the competition for food between the sexes.
Gestation period is 450 days and the newborn calf weighs 100 kg. The calf is able to stand and walk within an hour of its birth but remain isolated for up to three weeks. Young calves are vulnerable to predators such as lions and spotted hyenas and calves born at the calving grounds join other calves to form 'crèches'. The females are protective of these groups and will defend them from attacks by kicking the predators.
Conservation
Giraffes are abundant within their range although this has been drastically reduced in modern times.
Interesting Facts
Both males and female have horns. Males' horns are parallel to each other while the females horns lean inwards towards each other. Giraffes are known to return to traditional calving grounds to drop their young. Giraffes are born with horns which lie flat. Shortly after birth, the horns straighten .
Insight
Favourites of the Rangers of the Leopard Trail , our species is the Cape giraffe. The herd consists of a dominant male ( known to the Rangers as Bongola) and several females and 2 young males. Affectionately known as Baloo, the 2 1/2 year old young male was born in the Night Safari. Rejection by its mother compelled the Rangers to bottle-feed and hand raise it. In mid 1999, it's male sibling ' Oranjie' was born. Happily, the second calf was nursed by its mother and is today a handsome 7 footer.
Giraffes give birth standing up . This means that the young will fall some 5 feet to the ground at birth. Within 10 hours , they are up and running alongside it's mother. The giraffes enjoy a large expanse of land which is fronted by the Seletar Reservoir . the habitat is shared by other ungulates , the scimitar-horned oryx, the blesbok and Thomson's Gazelles.
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