Meeting the Giraffes in Africa!
Hi I'm Danny! I'm travelling around the world! Follow me.
I'm staying in one of the many wildlife conservancies that border the Maasai Mara national reserve in Kenya. For the next couple weeks I'm going to try and post each evening from The Naboisho Conservancy.
Giraffe
On todays game drive we saw some giraffes from our vehicle. They are a little skittish so we couldn't get too close without them stopping what they were doing to stare at us. The giraffe calves stayed really close to the mother and she appeared to be quite protective. The male giraffes are also territorial and will fight to keep and win over the female giraffes.
Giraffes have the same amount of bones in their necks as human and they also have a special valve in their head which no other animals have. Being so tall they need a valve to regulate the pressure of their blood to stop their head exploding when they lower/raise their neck to drink water.
The channel 4 series Inside Natures Giants had an episode about Giraffes. In the episode Richard Dawkins showed that the giraffe is at the absolute brink of evolution. They used to have small necks and feed on small bushes - evolution has transformed them into what they are today. You can watch the clip here.
Scientists have done a lot of studying on this and even NASA has studied the valve and how it affects blood pressure. They are a fascinating animal.
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Wow, I have seen and even been close to giraffes , but I never knew about the anatomy of the of the giraffe's neck.
It's fascinating, and humbling, how even after landing on the moon, we still look at nature for inspiration.
Those giraffe are so butiful @dannystravels
Bet you never saw a Giraffe with a Donkey before! Here's a snap from my private collection:
Please don't share though.. Donkeys aren't as liberal about gay rights yet.
Hee Haw! Steem on bro!
It is real...!! Or photoshop...!! Looks crazy....!!
What an amazing experience that would be! I also never knew about the valve in their necks!
This is great. Keep doing great job. Follow you.
Hi Danny, you must be having fun. Welcome to my country, there is so much to see in the Maasai Mara and elsewhere in Kenya. I have to rush and go vote. It will be a "meet-up" next time!
Hi @gigpen, am a fellow Kenyan, voted earlier too :)
Cool @practicaleric, good meeting you here!
Hello. good post, excellent Animal experience. follow me
Cool One day I go too there :) And Very cool post :)
Excellent post and beautiful pictures. I didn't know that about giraffes, nice tidbit. There is actually a place in Nairobi that is dedicated to giraffes only called giraffe center . I visited there some years back. You can actually get close to the giraffes and even feed them :)
This deserves some attention. Upvoted and resteemed :)