The Giraffe With No Neck

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A giraffes tongue is over 18 inches (46 centimetres) long, and the roof of the mouth is grooved to easily strip leaves off branches. Since giraffes are extremely efficient at processing nutrients and liquids from food, they can survive without water for long periods of time. Giraffes ruminate day or night, with periods of sleep in between. A study published in the scientific journal Current Biology in 2016 argues that there are four species of giraffes. However, there is only one species of giraffe currently recognized with nine subspecies. a b c d Badlangana, L. N.; Adams, J. W.; Manger, P. R. (2009). "The giraffe (Giraffa camelopardalis) cervical vertebral column: A heuristic example in understanding evolutionary processes?". Zoological Journal of the Linnean Society. 155 (3): 736–57. doi: 10.1111/j.1096-3642.2008.00458.x. Ginnett, Tim, and Montague Demment (1997). “Sex Differences in Giraffe Foraging Behavior at Two Spatial Scales,” Oecologia vol. 110, pp. 291-300.

Giraffes are usually silent although they can bellow, grunt or snort when alarmed, as when confronted by lions, and can also moo in distress.Hello up there! Why do so many people look up to giraffes—besides the obvious reason? The long and short of it is that they are a wonderful example of nature’s creativity. The giraffe is a social, group-living animal, with a stationary group called a tower. Giraffe on the move are known as a journey. The giraffe has a fission-fusion type of social system. This means that the composition of the group changes between hours, days and weeks. Usually groups are composed of females (cows) and their young. Males (bulls) are found in bachelor herds and will join the female groups from time to time to seek females in oestrus and to mate with them. While the Namibian farmer had spotted Nigel regularly over the years, it was only after our observations that he realized that Nigel was not a juvenile but a fully grown male giraffe," co-author Emma Wells, a researcher for the Giraffe Conservation Foundation. "It is mainly in comparison to other giraffe that his difference in stature becomes obvious."

Like many of Africa’s large mammals, giraffes have declined in numbers and in range over the last century. At one time, herds of over 100 animals were common in savanna regions across the continent, however, today concentrations like these exist only in East Africa particularly Tanzania Serengeti National Park.

CONSERVATION

Qiu, Jane (2017). "Surge in wildlife killings is wiping out giraffes". Science. doi: 10.1126/science.aan7000. Archived from the original on 9 February 2023 . Retrieved 30 June 2022.

Giraffes have two ways of moving, a loping walk and a gallop. When they walk, the giraffes move both feet on one side of their body in unison, followed by both feet on the other side. In addition to its great height, the giraffe is also one of the heaviest land animals. Exceptionally large males may weigh up to 1,900 kilograms (about 4,200 pounds). van der Jeugd, H. P.; Prins, H. H. T. (2000). "Movements and group structure of giraffe ( Giraffa camelopardalis) in Lake Manyara National Park, Tanzania" (PDF). Journal of Zoology. 251 (1): 15–21. doi: 10.1111/j.1469-7998.2000.tb00588.x. Archived from the original (PDF) on 6 November 2013.Gestation period is usually 13 – 15 months and when a pregnant female giraffe 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 giraffe standing on all fours and the calf tumbling onto the ground. Remarkably, the calf is rarely injured by its fall.