Giraffe predators threats skin#

He is wearing a camo hat and a pair of torn, purple-checkered boxers that heвЂ™s been wearing as shorts for the past several days.

вЂњWith other animals, youвЂ™re trying to give just enough anesthetic to immobilize them, but with a giraffe, we use a total overdose to chemically knock them off their feet,вЂќ the sun-leathered 59-year-old tells me as I stalk him stalking a two-year-old female giraffe somewhere in the Nigerien bush, about 60 miles east of Niamey, NigerвЂ™s capital. Of all the large African mammals that wildlife veterinarian Pete Morkel has had to capture over his career-lions, forest elephants, white rhinos- giraffes are the most stressful.

Giraffe predators threats skin#

They also have very tight, thick skin around their lower legs which helps them keep high blood pressure in their legs, similar to a pilotвЂ™s G-suit.This story appears in the October 2019 issue of National Geographic magazine. No head rush here! There is a complex pressure-regulation system in their necks that stops blood from rushing to their brains when they lower their heads.

Their heart beats up to 170 times each minute and generates extremely high blood pressure (280/180 mm Hg) вЂ“ double that of humans! Their hearts are not very large, so their hearts have to be very strong and thick to pump all that blood through such a large body. They have several adaptations for such a large body. Giraffes can run up to 35 miles/hour over short distances.ThatвЂ™s quite a long neck you have! Giraffes have the same number of bones in their necks as we do, but their neck is MUCH bigger than ours averaging 6 feet long!.Life Span: 10 вЂ“ 15 years (wild) / 20 вЂ“ 27 years (zoo).Species: Giraffa camelopardalis reticulate (reticulated giraffe).Family: Giraffidae (giraffes and okapis).Order: Artiodactyla (even-toed ungulates).At birth, giraffe calves are 6.5 feet tall from the ground to their shoulders and weigh 110 pounds. An adult male can eat up to 146 pounds (66 kg) of food in one day! Family LifeДЇemale giraffes have a gestational period of 15 months and give birth standing up! Newborn calves get to their feet 15 minutes after birth. They eat mainly leaves from Acacia trees with some flowers, seed pods, and fruit. Giraffes spend most of their time eating. Because they only occasionally drink, giraffes can be found away from a water source. Giraffes live in the dry savannas and open woodlands of northeast Africa in Kenya, Somalia, and Ethiopia. Find out more about the foundation and how you can get involved here. The Giraffe Conservation Foundation (GCF) is an organization dedicated to a sustainable future for all giraffe populations in the wild. Giraffes are social animals, living in loose, open, unstable herds varying from 10 to 20 individuals. The pattern of the coat varies and helps the giraffe camouflage in different habitats. Reticulated giraffes are the worldвЂ™s tallest mammal, with males standing 18 feet tall! Both male and female giraffes have a spotted coat.