Giraffe - Giraffa camelopardalis
There are about 30 giraffes on the reserve. I did have the opportunity to eat giraffe kabobs and they were very tasty, a little chewy though but they tasted pretty much like cow.
Did You Know?
The giraffe (Giraffa camelopardalis) is the tallest living terrestrial animal. Their chief distinguishing characteristics are its extremely long neck and legs, its horn-like projection called ossicones, and its distinctive coat patterns. They stand 16–20 ft tall and has an average weight of 3,500 lb for males and 1,830 lb for females. There are nine subspecies are they are distinguished by their coat patterns.
Giraffes don’t have extra vertebrae in their neck, the bones are actually elongated, each cervical vertebra is over 11 inches long. The circulatory system of the giraffe has several adaptations for its great height. Its heart, which can weigh more than 25 lb and measures about 2 ft long, they also have an unusually high heart rates for their size, at 150 beats per minute. A newborn giraffe is about 6 ft tall. The ossicones, which have lain flat while baby was in the womb, become erect within a few days. Mothers with calves will gather in nursery herds, moving or browsing together. Mothers in such a group may sometimes leave their calves with one female while they forage and drink elsewhere. This is known as a "calving pool".
Giraffes don’t have extra vertebrae in their neck, the bones are actually elongated, each cervical vertebra is over 11 inches long. The circulatory system of the giraffe has several adaptations for its great height. Its heart, which can weigh more than 25 lb and measures about 2 ft long, they also have an unusually high heart rates for their size, at 150 beats per minute. A newborn giraffe is about 6 ft tall. The ossicones, which have lain flat while baby was in the womb, become erect within a few days. Mothers with calves will gather in nursery herds, moving or browsing together. Mothers in such a group may sometimes leave their calves with one female while they forage and drink elsewhere. This is known as a "calving pool".