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Giraffe Reproduction and Behavior

Giraffes typically give birth to a single calf after a 14-15 month gestation period. Calves are born standing and can run within hours, but remain close to their mothers for protection for the first two weeks. While adult giraffes face few predators, young calves may fall prey to lions, leopards, hyenas, and wild dogs. Calves become independent around 18 months of age, though only about 20-50% will survive to adulthood, with giraffes living 20-25 years on average. Giraffes are the tallest living land animal and have extremely long necks and legs with distinctive coat patterns. They inhabit savannahs and woodlands in Africa and

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Adriana Bulgac
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21 views1 page

Giraffe Reproduction and Behavior

Giraffes typically give birth to a single calf after a 14-15 month gestation period. Calves are born standing and can run within hours, but remain close to their mothers for protection for the first two weeks. While adult giraffes face few predators, young calves may fall prey to lions, leopards, hyenas, and wild dogs. Calves become independent around 18 months of age, though only about 20-50% will survive to adulthood, with giraffes living 20-25 years on average. Giraffes are the tallest living land animal and have extremely long necks and legs with distinctive coat patterns. They inhabit savannahs and woodlands in Africa and

Uploaded by

Adriana Bulgac
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© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
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Download as DOCX, PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
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Reproducerea[modificare | modificare sursă]

Perioada de gestație la girafă este între 14 și 15 luni; naște un singur pui. Girafa naște în picioare
iar sacul embrionar nu se rupe când fătul cade pe sol. Girafele nou născute măsoară 1,8 m. La
puține ore după naștere , puiul de girafă poate alerga și nu se deosebește de cel care are o
săptămână. Oricum în primele două săptămâni stau mai mult așezate și păzite de mama lor.
Girafele adulte sunt prea mari pentru majoritatea carnivorilor, dar exemplarele mai tinere pot fi
atacate de majoritatea carnivorilor : lei, leoparzi, hiene și câini sălbatici. Puiul devine independent
după 18 luni. Doar 21–49 % dintre ei vor ajunge adulți, având o medie de viață de 20 și 25 ani.
The giraffe is a large African hoofed mammal belonging to the genus Giraffa. It is
the tallest living terrestrial animal and the largest ruminant on Earth. Traditionally, giraffes have
been thought of as one species, Giraffa camelopardalis, with nine subspecies. Most recently,
researchers proposed dividing them into up to eight extant species due to new research into
their mitochondrial and nuclear DNA, as well as morphological measurements. Seven other
extinct species of Giraffa are known from the fossil record.
The giraffe's chief distinguishing characteristics are its extremely long neck and legs, its horn-
like ossicones, and its spotted coat patterns. It is classified under the family Giraffidae, along with
its closest extant relative, the okapi. 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. Giraffes usually
inhabit savannahs and woodlands. Their food source is leaves, fruits, and flowers of woody
plants, primarily acacia species, which they browse at heights most other herbivores cannot
reach.
Lions, leopards, spotted hyenas, and African wild dogs may prey upon giraffes. 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. Males establish social hierarchies through
"necking", combat bouts where the neck is used as a weapon. Dominant males gain mating
access to females, which bear sole responsibility for rearing the young.
The giraffe has intrigued various ancient and modern cultures for its peculiar appearance, and
has often been featured in paintings, books, and cartoons. 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. 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. More than 1,600 were kept in zoos in 2010.

Etymology

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