Meet the Tanzanian Giraffes : The giraffe is among the most iconic animal creatures of Africa. They are so funky looking, with amazing eyelashes alongside a gigantic and weird look. They are not actually territorial and they may look a little bit awkward but actually social glorifies. Unlike other species, they are not to be territorial at all.
The Maasai giraffe is the biggest species found in Tanzania national parks. Giraffes are the tallest living land animals on the earth with a towering height and signatory long neck. This exceptional height allows giraffes to eat leaves from treetops unreached by other animals, look for predators such as lions and leopards, and to see other endangers.
The massive bumps on the giraffe’s head are called ossicones which are usually made of cartilages covered by skin. The males’ ossicones are much larger and grow increasingly over their lives, Meet the Tanzanian Giraffes.
They prefer to live in woodland or grassland. In Tanzania they are found in Serengeti national park, Ngorongoro, Manyara, Tarangire, Ruaha, Mikumi, Lake Manyara and Mount Kilimanjaro National Park.
Let’s see the description of the features of giraffes found in Tanzania to thrive while on Tanzania Safaris.
General Lifestyle
Giraffes are capable of sleeping only 5 minutes a day. Giraffes can survive 5 to 30 minutes of sleep each day, whereas they do sleep by taking several 1 to 2 minutes naps each day. They can even get the rest of their sleep while standing up. For most of their lifetime, they remain standing up while doing their day-to-day activities like eating, sleeping, and even giving birth to young ones while standing up.
Sometimes giraffes get killed by predators such as lions. However, the giraffe’s long neck helps them see trouble coming and they just run away before the lion can catch them. They use their 6 feet and muscular legs to kick predators like lions just knock them once and they are dead, Meet the Tanzanian Giraffes.
Acacia tree leaves are the main source of food for giraffes since they are herbivore (plant eaters) animals. The giraffes consume over 35 kilos of food per day. An adult giraffe can save a small amount of food from each bite of food they consume. They spend most of their time eating to meet their ecological need of eating around 35 kilos of food. Apart from the size, wild giraffe needs a lot of food since they spend most of their time standing up.
A group of giraffes is called a ‘tower’. A tower of giraffes statically has 10 to 20 members without a dormant leader in their herd. Community-wise tower members are usually free to come and go as they wish. They are always walking in a tower so as to be able to fight predators by cooperation and stay safe.
Giraffes make sounds and noises. However, giraffes make sounds including snores, whistle-like cries, and low-frequency noises that can’t be heard by the human ear. In other words, I can say that giraffes have a vocal code. Only young giraffes (calves) make most of the sounds since they are less conscious.
Giraffes don’t drink water often. Most of their water intake comes from the plants they eat. So they only need to go for water once every few days. A giraffe’s neck is too short to teach the ground so they would have to spread their legs so as to reach the water on the ground.
Locomotion
While a wild giraffe is running in the parks they appear to be slow in motion on eye observations. The giraffes have the longest stride than any other land mammal. The speed of their movements can reach up to 6 kilometers per hour (6 Km/hr). Unlike a horse, giraffes run by moving both legs on the same side of their body together which can play a virtual trick by the standard, Meet the Tanzanian Giraffes.
Weight
Giraffes are the third heaviest animal in the world after elephants and Rhinos. They weigh up to two tones, the giraffe is a colossal animal and unlike any other. A young giraffe can weigh more than 150 pounds (68 Kg). On average an adult giraffe weighs approximately 1765 pounds (3891.16 Kg). In some cases, other species of giraffes can be massive as 4255 pounds (9380.66 Kg).
Mating
The male giraffe samples a female pee during mating season. Among unique lifestyle choices, a male giraffe tastes female facility by tasting her urine. Males will always take the mouth to the urine of the female to determine if the female is in heat or not. By doing so the male giraffe can distinguish whether the female is on the heating period or not.
Growth
A female can grow over 14 feet tall which is approximately about 4.3 meters. The male can reach over 18 feet which is 5.4 meters. The baby giraffes are called calves and they are born about 6 feet tall and they may grow to an additional 1 inch (2.54 Cm) tall every day during the first week. The giraffes feed their calves milk like other mammals on for the first few months. The calves nurse from their mothers for the first 4 to 6 months. From the 7th month onwards the calves begin to eat leaves. However, when the calves are unable to reach leaves from the trees, their mothers will pull the leaves off and feed them, Meet the Tanzanian Giraffes.
Body organs
The hearts of giraffes are exceptionally strong. Their hearts are about 2 feet long (0.6 Meters) and weigh about 25 pounds (11.3 Kg) which is equal to 50 normal human beings’ hearts. The heart of giraffe pups 6 liters of blood in its body every minute. Because of the great distance between the giraffe’s heart and its brain due to the animal’s height, the blood must travel for longer distances. Its heart has evolved thick muscular walls. Thanks to these powerful valves, a giraffe’s blood pressure can be two times higher than many other wild animals. This helps the giraffe’s heart gravity to push blood over its long and to its brain.
The neck of giraffes has the same number of bones as humans. Both humans and giraffes only have seven (7) bones in their necks. However, human neck bones are only half (0.5) inches (1.27 Cm) tall while giraffe bones are 10 inches (25.4 Cm) tall. This means that the giraffe’s neck can grow to be about 6 feet (1.8 M) long and weighs 600 pounds (272 Kg). Male giraffe necks can also be used to fight over female giraffes. They fight by swinging their necks at each other and they may not even look like they are fighting, but giraffes can really be hurt by these fights.
The tongue of a Giraffe is about 20 inches long. Their tongue is usually colored black, blue, or purple for protection against the sun’s ultraviolet rays.
Worldwide population
Some people eat giraffes. In some Tanzania communities, people kill giraffes for meat. In those areas, many people take any kind of meat they could find to survive. The giraffe’s meat has such a natural sweetness that many appear to appreciate its taste.
Giraffe’s populations are vulnerable. Their population has been decreasing by 40% worldwide from 1985 to 2015. This is because the animals are killed for means, especially in poor African countries like Sudan. But, they are also hunted specifically for the tails which are considered standard symbols for some Congolese communities.
Giraffes are beautiful and have to be protected forever. You will spend so much time thinking, talking, and looking at giraffes in Tanzanian parks. No other creature on the planet is as calm as the giraffe. The high and long necks, powerful hearts, and sleeping style make this creature unique. Always giraffes are not dangerous animal species. Together they are standing tall for a remarkable beast, a true icon of African Tanzania wildlife.
