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Giraffes
Learn about the giraffe's unique body features, social behavior, habitat, diet, predators, methods of defense, and threats to its survival.
Book
Giraffes
\"This easy-to-read nonfiction book tells how tall giraffes are, how their unique body features help them adapt to their habitat, and how they survive\"-- Provided by publisher.
Book
Behaviour Classification on Giraffes (Giraffa camelopardalis) Using Machine Learning Algorithms on Triaxial Acceleration Data of Two Commonly Used GPS Devices and Its Possible Application for Their Management and Conservation
Averting today’s loss of biodiversity and ecosystem services can be achieved through conservation efforts, especially of keystone species. Giraffes (Giraffa camelopardalis) play an important role in sustaining Africa’s ecosystems, but are ‘vulnerable’ according to the IUCN Red List since 2016. Monitoring an animal’s behavior in the wild helps to develop and assess their conservation management. One mechanism for remote tracking of wildlife behavior is to attach accelerometers to animals to record their body movement. We tested two different commercially available high-resolution accelerometers, e-obs and Africa Wildlife Tracking (AWT), attached to the top of the heads of three captive giraffes and analyzed the accuracy of automatic behavior classifications, focused on the Random Forests algorithm. For both accelerometers, behaviors of lower variety in head and neck movements could be better predicted (i.e., feeding above eye level, mean prediction accuracy e-obs/AWT: 97.6%/99.7%; drinking: 96.7%/97.0%) than those with a higher variety of body postures (such as standing: 90.7–91.0%/75.2–76.7%; rumination: 89.6–91.6%/53.5–86.5%). Nonetheless both devices come with limitations and especially the AWT needs technological adaptations before applying it on animals in the wild. Nevertheless, looking at the prediction results, both are promising accelerometers for behavioral classification of giraffes. Therefore, these devices when applied to free-ranging animals, in combination with GPS tracking, can contribute greatly to the conservation of giraffes.
Journal Article
Giraffes
Using simple text and color illustrations, this book describes the lives and habits of giraffes.
Book
Predator experience enhances giraffe vigilance to oxpecker alarm calls
Background
Animals often benefit from the alarm calls of other species to detect danger, but how such cues are integrated into vigilance strategies remains unclear. Giraffes (
Giraffa
spp.) rely on early threat detection to avoid ambush and are known hosts of red-billed oxpeckers (
Buphagus erythrorhynchus
), which form mutualistic associations with large mammals by feeding on ectoparasites and emitting alarm calls in response to approaching threats. While these calls are thought to provide early-warning benefits, it remains unclear how giraffes interpret them, and whether their responses vary with prior exposure to predation risk.
Results
We conducted playback experiments across three giraffe populations differing in predator presence to test whether giraffes adjust vigilance in response to oxpecker alarm calls. Individuals in the predator-inhabited reserve maintained vigilance longer than those in predator-free areas, suggesting that prior exposure enhances responsiveness to alarm calls. Acoustic analyses revealed that oxpecker alarm calls are characterized by low harmonic-to-noise ratios, consistent with harsh, broadband signals that are known to enhance attention and urgency perception in alarm contexts. However, call structure alone did not explain vigilance responses; instead responses were modulated by ecological context, specifically whether giraffes lived in areas with or without lions.
Conclusions
Our findings suggest that oxpeckers serve a sentinel-like function and that giraffes use their alarm calls as early-warning signals, with stronger responses observed in populations exposed to predators. This supports the idea that eavesdropping on heterospecific alarm calls can provide context-dependent benefits, with predator-experienced giraffes showing greater sensitivity to oxpecker alarms. By linking behavioral flexibility with ecological context, this study offers a framework for understanding how mutualistic communication systems adapt to changing predation pressures.
Journal Article
Giraffes
A basic exploration of the appearance, behavior, and habitat of giraffes, the worlds tallest land animals. Also included is a story from folklore explaining why giraffes have such long necks.
Book
Heads up–Four Giraffa species have distinct cranial morphology
Giraffe ( Giraffa spp.) are among the most unique extant mammals in terms of anatomy, phylogeny, and ecology. However, aspects of their evolution, ontogeny, and taxonomy are unresolved, retaining lingering questions that are pivotal for their conservation. We assembled the largest known dataset of Giraffa skulls (n = 515) to investigate patterns of cranial variability using 3D geometric morphometrics. The results show distinct sexual dimorphism and divergent ontogenetic trajectories of skull shape for the north clade ( G . camelopardalis antiquorum , G . c . camelopardalis , G . c . peralta , and G . reticulata ) and the south clade ( G . giraffa angolensis , G . g . giraffa , G . tippelskirchi tippelskirchi , and G . t . thornicrofti ) which was further supported statistically. Discriminant functions found statistically significant cranial shape differences between all four Giraffa species, and in some cases also between subspecies of the same species. Our 3D morphometric analysis shows that the four genetically distinct Giraffa spp. also have distinct cranial morphologies, largely addressable to features of display (ossicones). Our results highlight the importance of focusing future giraffe conservation efforts on each taxon to maintain their unique characteristics and biodiversity in the wild.
Journal Article
Etorphine-Azaperone Immobilisation for Translocation of Free-Ranging Masai Giraffes (Giraffa Camelopardalis Tippelskirchi): A Pilot Study
Etorphine-azaperone immobilisation was evaluated for translocation of Masai giraffes. Nine giraffes were darted with 0.012 ± 0.001 mg/kg etorphine and 0.07 ± 0.01 mg/kg azaperone. Once ataxic, giraffes were roped for recumbency and restrained manually. Naltrexone (3 mg/mg etorphine) was immediately given intravenously to reverse etorphine-related side effects. Protocol evaluation included physiological monitoring, blood-gas analyses, anaesthetic times, and quality scores (1 = excellent, 4 = poor). Sedation onset and recumbency were achieved in 2.6 ± 0.8 and 5.6 ± 1.4 min. Cardio-respiratory function (HR = 70 ± 16, RR = 32 ± 8, MAP = 132 ± 16) and temperature (37.8 ± 0.5) were stable. Arterial gas analysis showed hypoxaemia in some individuals (PaO2 = 67 ± 8 mmHg) and metabolic acidosis (pH = 7.23 ± 0.05, PaCO2 = 34 ± 4 mmHg, HCO3− = 12.9 ± 1.2 mmol/l). Minor startle response occurred, while higher induction-induced excitement correlated to longer inductions, worse restraint, and decreased HCO3−. After 19 ± 3.5 min of restraint, giraffes were allowed to stand and were loaded onto a chariot. Immobilisations were good and scored 2 (1–3). Inductions and recoveries were smooth and scored 1 (1–2). Translocations were uneventful and no complications occurred in 14-days boma follow-up.
Journal Article