Giraffes, the staple animal of every zoo, might be the tallest animal but they are often overlooked and missed by the science community. These giant creatures who emit a sense of grandeur are mute. They seamlessly blend into their habitat without making any sound. Not until recently, Giraffes have been easily forgotten.
Giraffes have been misrepresented as "stupid" as one wildlife biologist asserted. After recent studies were conducted, zoologists and giraffe researchers began to unravel the mystery behind giraffes and realize there is more to appreciate about the giraffe than just its height.
The social structure of giraffes is rather interesting, especially between young bulls and elder bulls (men). Even male giraffes have a certain amount of haughtiness and a sense of superiority that becomes evident in the way they carry themselves around females. The young bulls follow the example of the elder males as they hold their neck up high and have sexual antics. But as soon as an older bull walks in the younger bull backs away in fear. Dominance clashes between older and younger bulls can be lethal.
The article also highlights the drastic plummet of the giraffe population by 40% even though they aren't officially labeled as an endangered species. The giraffes,that are often overlooked, are really an important part of the ecosystem because they constantly feed, prune, distribute seeds, and sometimes pollinate. Giraffes also have excellent vision. Their peripheral vision is so widely ranged and their eyes are so wide set that they can practically see what is going on behind them.
Giraffes don't like to run! They don't tend to run as the amount of blood pumped into the body of a giraffe per minute is significantly lower than an average humans: their hearts can't deliver blood to their muscles fast enough. But the advantages of being tall, being able to constantly eat, has completely overridden the price of a slow reflex.
This article genuinely intrigued me as new information about the mysterious giraffes was being brought into the limelight. Giraffes can kick lions, they can participate in fights with their brutal necks and display qualities that are majestic. Misconceptions were eradicated and an animal which has been drawn, made fun of, admired, is now delineated in aspects that were overlooked not too long ago. The giraffe are true kings of the animal kingdom.
Source: http://www.nytimes.com/2014/10/07/science/our-understanding-of-giraffes-does-not-measure-up.html ref=science&_r=0
Video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OxTh7cXRPrI
I never knew that giraffes were so aggressive and fierce. Before reading this blog and seeing the video, when ever I thought of giraffes, I always puctured them peacefully eating from a tall tree.It's cool to know that they can be aggressive and attack when necessary.
ReplyDeletevery interesting to learnt that giraffes are near-endangered. how do giraffes defend against predators if they can't really run? and is there any way we can help keep the giraffe population in check?
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ReplyDeleteI love giraffes! I watched a documentary on Animal Planet about giraffes, and it's amazing to see how calm and harmless they appear verses how they portray their dominance and superiority over any animal that tries to challenge them--even of their own species.
ReplyDeleteI really like your article, you seem to have put a lot of thought into this. I had thought that giraffes were peaceful creatures, I had no idea that they were that aggresive! I also didn't know that they were mute, but now that I think about it, I've never heard them make a sound! Anyway, great job!
ReplyDeletewow... this article is really interesting since I did not know that giraffes do not like to run. I used to think that giraffes enjoy to run and were peaceful creatures. Thank you for sharing this very interesting topic!
ReplyDeleteYour article is very interesting and entertaining to read. It puts a new definition onto a severely underappreciated animal; it creates an image of this animal that I have never associated with it before. Giraffes are truly fascinating creatures and should, as you have stated, be given more attention by both the common person and the scientific community as a whole.
ReplyDeleteIt was very interesting to see what an impact a giraffe can have on an ecosystem and how they assert their dominance, like most people, I originally thought of them to be very serene creatures
ReplyDeleteEvery time I go to a zoo, it is almost compulsory to have a Giraffe in it. Even though people don't really think of giraffes, I think it is amusing as to how endangered this animal actually is. Once, I had seen a video particularly targeting a giraffe's intelligence. After reading this article, I can deem that source invalid. It really amused me to think that every day, we always see giraffes at zoos, but we never think of how rare they are to find in the wild. It is also very weird how they are aggressive
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