The giraffe calf drops 2 m to the ground. Mother giraffes give birth standing up or walking. Female giraffes breed every 20 to 30 months. Most giraffe births take place from May to August. ( 'Grzimek's Animal Life Encyclopedia', 2003)įor Giraffa camelopardalis, conception occurs in the rainy season, with birth occurring in the dry months. If receptive, the female giraffe will circle the male, hold her tail out, and take on a mating position, after which copulation occurs. Male giraffes lick the tail of the female and lift his foreleg. The bull will then proceed to rub his head near the rump of the female and rest it on her back. Courtship starts when a bull approaches a cow to perform a urine test, smelling the urine with a pronounced lip curl, a behavior referred to as flehmen. Bulls carefully guard an estrous female from other male giraffes. The eyes are very large and their 45 cm long black tongue grasps prickly food from the very tops of trees. A medium-sized horn is common in both male and females while males can grow a second pair behind the first pair of horns. Female giraffe horns are thin and tufted male giraffe horns are thick but the hair is smoothed by sparring. Giraffe horns, called ossicones, are bone protuberances covered with skin and fur. A black tuft at the end of the tail whisks away flies and other flying insects. Their tails are thin and long, measuring about 76 to 101 cm in length. Giraffes have a steeply sloping back from the shoulders to the rump. Giraffe necks contain 7 elongated vertebrae. Giraffa camelopardalis have long, sturdy legs, with their front legs longer than their back legs.

( 'Grzimek's Animal Life Encyclopedia', 2003) With the changing of season and health, the coat color may be altered. The skin pattern for an individual giraffe is constant throughout the giraffe’s life. Giraffe coats are sharp-edged or fuzzy-edged small, medium, or large or yellow to black in color. The patches on a giraffe coat can be small, medium, or large in size. The nine giraffe subspecies have various skin patterns. The pattern of the coat varies and is an aide for camouflage with the different habitats. Newborn giraffes weigh 50 to 55 kg.īoth male and female giraffes have a spotted coat. At birth, giraffe calves are 2 m tall from the ground to the shoulders. Bulls weigh up to 1,930 kg, while cows can weigh up to 1,180 kg. Female giraffes (cows) are 0.7 to 1 m shorter than bulls. Male giraffes (bulls) stand a total of 5.7 m from the ground to their horns: 3.3 m at the shoulders with a long neck of 2.4 m. Giraffa camelopardalis is the world’s tallest mammal. Male giraffes can venture into denser wooded areas in search of more foliage. Because they only occasionally drink, giraffes can be found away from a water source. Giraffes are found in savannas, grasslands, or open woodlands. They seek out areas enriched with Acacia growth. They have been reintroduced in South Africa to game reserves. Giraffes have disappeared from most of western Africa, except a residual population in Niger. Giraffa camelopardalis is native to Africa, mainly found south of the Sahara to eastern Transvaal, Natal, and northern Botswana.

Giraffe whistle