Masai giraffe predators3/26/2023 ![]() It helps feed predators and nurtures an entire ecosystem built on balance. This tiny calf's sacrifice was not in vain, however. Around half of the giraffe calves do not survive their first six months – a figure that rises to nearly 60% by the end of the first year. The infant mortality rates estimated for Masai giraffe in the Serengeti is over 20% for one-month-old giraffes, suggesting that many of these newborns will not make it to adulthood. As a bystander you can't get involved, so you just have to wait and see what might happen next."Īlthough it's gut-wrenching to watch the female giraffe's valiant efforts to save her calf, it's not entirely uncommon for baby giraffes to perish in their early stages of life. They usually do not target full grown adults due to their powerful legs and sharp hooves, but they. It broke my heart to see falling over all the time with mom trying to help and motivate to get up. The primary predators of these giraffes are lions and hyenas. Tourist Tania Lodder-Kotzé was present at the scene the previous afternoon and explains that the calf appeared to be struggling to stand: "Every time tried to get up it either fell on its face or onto its side. The male lion grabbed the giraffe calf and headed off into the bush with it."Īlthough it's not explicitly clear how the giraffe calf died, it is suspected to have sustained an injury during, or immediately after, birth which it succumbed to during the night. "Perhaps because her own life was now at risk. The giraffe mom bravely fought off a lioness that arrived in the late morning, but eventually gave up the carcass of her calf when a male turned up to forcefully claim it. While she was chasing the hyena, the jackals would come in and feed on the little calf, it was terrible." and grasslands where they can wander around freely, peering out into the distance to see if any predators are lurking nearby. Lions, hyena and poachers are their main enemies. She kept a few jackals at bay, a hyena, and for a short while the lions. Male Masai giraffes eat from the top branches, the females from the bottom branches. The calf must have died during the night and this mother giraffe stood there protecting it the whole night, up until the lions arrived the next morning. "Giraffes gestate for about 15 months and to lose a calf so shortly after giving birth must be a terrible experience. More than 1,600 were kept in zoos in 2010."It was such an emotional sighting," Botha told Latest Sightings. Giraffes are still found in numerous national parks and game reserves, but estimates as of 2016 indicate there are approximately 97,500 members of Giraffa in the wild. It is classified by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) as vulnerable to extinction and has been extirpated from many parts of its former range. The giraffe has intrigued various ancient and modern cultures for its peculiar appearance, and has often been featured in paintings, books, and cartoons. ![]() Dominant males gain mating access to females, which bear sole responsibility for raising the young. Males establish social hierarchies through "necking", combat bouts where the neck is used as a weapon. ![]() Giraffes live in herds of related females and their offspring or bachelor herds of unrelated adult males, but are gregarious and may gather in large aggregations. Lions, leopards, spotted hyenas, and African wild dogs may prey upon giraffes. Adult males reach a height of up to 19.5 feet, and females are not much smaller because they reach between 16 and 18 feet. Most predators avoid adults because one swift kick can kill them. Their food source is leaves, fruits, and flowers of woody plants, primarily acacia species, which they browse at heights most other herbivores cannot reach. The Masai Giraffe is powerful due to the design of the legs and the hooves. Giraffes usually inhabit savannahs and woodlands. Its scattered range extends from Chad in the north to South Africa in the south, and from Niger in the west to Somalia in the east. It is classified under the family Giraffidae, along with its closest extant relative, the okapi. The giraffe's chief distinguishing characteristics are its extremely long neck and legs, its horn-like ossicones, and its spotted coat patterns.
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