animalzoid The Giraffe is the tallest mammal on land. The scientific name to introduce giraffes is Giraffa camelopardalis. The Giraffe belongs to the type of mammals there are herbivorous. The giraffes have towering legs and long necks. The structure of the Giraffe, with 6 feet and legs, helps the Giraffe to run fast. A giraffe can run 35 miles within an hour. The giraffes live as a group, and there are around six members in each group. There are sometimes contests between the bulls. They battle with one another by butting their heads and legs, which causes danger. There are four species of giraffes.
- Southern Giraffe-Giraffa giraffe
- Masai Giraffe-G.trppelskirchi
- Reticulated Giraffe-G.reticulata
- Northern Giraffe-G.camelopradalis
01. Southern Giraffe
The Southern Giraffe consists o two subspecies, and the combination of both subspecies makes up 50% of the whole continent’s giraffe population. Those two subspecies of Southern giraffes are the Angolan Giraffe and the South African Giraffe. The Southern Giraffe belongs to the Giraffidae family. The Southern giraffes have dark patches, rounded and irregular in reddish-brown. The colours are faded on their legs. The Angolan subspecies are distributed in the north of Namibia, southwest of Zambia and Zimbabwe. The South African giraffes habit in the north of South Africa, Southwestern Namibia, Zambia, Southern Botswana and Zimbabwe. The Southern giraffes feed on leaves, plants, flowers and fruits. The most common flowers they eat are hibiscus, Dombeya lily and acacia. Also, giraffes eat thorny trees and shrubs. The captivated giraffes are fed on carrots, hay, acacia, starch and cookies with high fibre. The species of Southern Giraffe also got threatened by their predators as other herbivorous animals in Africa. Since the Southern giraffes’ population is still within the expected limits, they are not considered an endangered species. But still, they face the issues of illegal hunting and the destruction of habitations.
02. Masai Giraffe
According to the records it has revealed that there are around 45,400 numbers of Masai Giraffes population in the wild. The Masai Giraffes can be found in the central and southern Kenya regions.,also throughout Tanzania. According to ICUN, the Masai giraffes are on the red list of endangered giraffe species. The Masai giraffe comes to the Order of Artiodactyla, and they have the subspecies of tippelskirchi. The Masai Giraffes are in the size of 17 feet tall, and they weigh 2,600 lb. The Birth of baby Masai giraffes would be in gestation for 15 months, and there will be one or two births at a time. At Birth, the young Masai giraffe would be a height of 6 feet and between 100-150 lb weight. The Masai Girrafes eat for 16-20 hours per day. The tough of a Masai giraffe would long 18-20 inches and have the colour of either black or blue.
03. Reticulated Giraffe
The Reticulated Giraffe, also called Somali Giraffe, is a native giraffe subspecies of Somalia. Also, they are widely distributed in Nothern Kenya. Reticulated giraffes commonly can be seen in Zoos. The Reticulated giraffes have blocks on their skin that appear deep red and cover the legs. Also, their coat consists of large, polygonal liver-coloured spots. A male Reticulated giraffe weighs 2400 to 4250 pounds, and they grow to the height of 18 feet. The female Reticulated Giraffe grows to a weight of 1504 to 2600 pounds and a height of 17 feet. The long neck of 8 feet is made of 7 bones, which is a similar number to the humans. The Reticulated giraffes are fast and can gallop 56 kilometres per hour. Primarily the Reticulated giraffes feed on Acacia and Combretum trees. They need 75 pounds of vegetation daily for survival. With the calves, these giraffes can survive up to 25 years.
04. Northern Giraffe
There are around 6000 populations of wild Northern Girrafes. The Northern Giraffes are in three subspecies that can be found in Western Africa, Central Africa and East Africa. In earlier times, the first settlements of the Northern giraffes occurred in Algeria, Morocco, Egypt, Libya and in ChadThe population of Northern Giraffes is distributed in the area conditions with the savannas, bushes and forests of Kenya and Southwest Ethiopia. The Nothern Giraffes have complex digestive systems due to their contemplative nature. Their digestive system is divided into four parts, which are made of strong muscles in the oesophagus.
Diet
The Giraffe’s diet depends on acacia, combretum trees and mimosa bush foliage. The plants that grow to the height of 2 to 5 meters are the primary diet of Giraffes. According to the seasonal and local availability, giraffes also got used to consuming herbal plants accessible to them. The Giraffe has 21 inches long tongue that helps them to pluck tasty morsels from branches of tall trees. The eating pattern of giraffes is also like cows. They regurgitate food and chew it as cud as same as cows. A giraffe eats hundreds of pounds of leaves each week, and when there is a shortage of leaves, they travel for miles away. The giraffes drink water once and can wait for several days. They contain their water needs by eating luscious plants.
Size
Usually, the height of a male giraffe is 6.2 meters, and a female giraffe would grow in size 5.3 meters. When the female Giraffe gives Birth to a baby giraffe, the height of a baby giraffe would be 6 feet maximum. A male giraffe weighs 1100 to 1915 kilograms, and a female giraffe weighs 700 to 1181 kilograms. The height is a blessing for giraffes to keep an eye on their predators. But the advantage of their crown is that they face difficulties when drinking water from a hole, so they have to bend and make awkward positions.
Reproduction
The female giraffes give Birth to the babies by standing up. The child falls to the ground from 5 feet when born into the world. After 10 hours after Birth, the baby giraffes can stand up, and they will start to walk and run with their mother within 10 hours. The female giraffes find their mates by smelling the urine of the male giraffes. The gestation period of a female giraffe will last for 15 months.
