Today has been a really beautiful sunny day at Ubizane, the birds are chirping, the Monkeys are having fun playing in the trees and the pool is the place to be for our guests. Upon driving into the Ubizane gate today we were greeted by a tall Giraffe eating leaves on the tree tops. I asked Hamilton our trusty Game Ranger; who knows everything there is to know about Wildlife, how to tell the difference between a male and female Giraffe.
Take a look at their horns; they are actually called Ossicones. Male Giraffes have no hair on the tips of their Ossicone. This is because the males use them to bring forth dominance by swinging their heads at one another in tests of strength to get the attention of females. This makes their Ossicones hairs wear down.
Females on the other hand rarely fight, so their hairs are able to grow longer. One could see from quite a distance the Giraffes that have hairs or not.
Younger male Giraffes do initially have hairs growing on their Ossicones because they are still too young to get involved in mating.
Here are more interesting fact about Giraffes:
· They have very high blood pressure so they are able to pump blood up their tall necks to get it to their brains
· They have a soft bone in their chest that acts to reduce the blood pressure when they bend their necks to drink.
· They are the only animals that need less water than camels.
· They live in loose herds with no specific leader.
· Their height makes it easy for them to spot predators from a distance, so if one signals danger, they all run.
· When giraffes walk they move both right legs forward, then both left. When running, however, the back legs come forward on the outside of the front legs.
· Baby Giraffes are born while the mother is standing which means they fall to the ground at birth and can walk within 20 minutes.
Does anyone want to know more about Giraffes, please leave a reply if you would?
No comments:
Post a Comment