Giraffe

Video Title :	Giraffe
Description :	Photo slideshow of the giraffes at the wild animal park I used to work at. I included the boats at the beginning so that you could see how the tourists could observe the animals as they moved through the park. --I'm between 16 to 22 years old in the photographs. Giraffes are even-toed ungulates, meaning that they are hooved. Giraffes are ruminants, meaning they have a four-chambered stomach like cattle, and chew their cud to assist in digestion. Like cattle, the females are called cows, the males bulls, and the babies calves. Even though giraffes have the longest necks in the animal kingdom, their necks only have seven vertebrae just as most mammals. Giraffes have special valves in the blood vessels in their necks to prevent the blood from rushing out of their head when lifting it quickly, so as to prevent fainting. A bull giraffe can reach a height of 15 to 17 feet (4.7-5.3 m). They have a long, black tongue which can be extended up to 18 inches (46 cm) in order to strip leaves from high branches. At 1:32, a male giraffe is testing a female's urine to see if she is ready to breed (it's called flehmen or lip-curl response). The female with legs sticking out of her backside is giving birth. After a gestation period of 15 months, the mothers give birth standing up. You'll notice that the baby's horns are flattened to allow for making the birthing process easier. There were several babies born while I worked there, but one female was never very good at motherhood,... so we would always have to bottle raise her young each time she gave birth. The female giraffe that is nursing two babies is actually the mother of the third baby standing to the side. Giraffes in the wild will sometimes leave their young with one female as they go off to forage on leaves and bark. At 2:52, the giraffe with its head folded down is sleeping. For many years, zoologists actually believed giraffes never slept. Apparently, they didn't spend enough time with them though, because I witnessed them sleeping fairly often. All photographs are the property of Dafttool & cannot be reproduced or used without the expressed authorization of Dafttool.
Views :	74361
Rating :	4.37
Keywords, Tags :	dafttool giraffe zoo animal man kissing exotic nature photography reticulated ungulate abandoned baby bottlefed birth wildlife
Video Length :	4 : 17

Comments :

Aww, I love giraffes so much! Thanks for all the info accompanying the video! It's very informative!

Our 18 month old son LOVES Giraffes. He asks to see this video several times a day! Thanks.

Thanks for the sweet comment. I really appreciate it. ^_^

so the guy with the giraffes in some pics r they u?

Yes. From many years ago. I'm also in my primate video, my ratite video, & my profile shot. The rest of the stuff I have up thus far, I'm behind the camera instead of in front of it. I feel more comfortable that way.

they are so cute

i luv giraffes. especially the baby ones. :] what wrong with the one at 3:11 tho?

Hmmm, I'm not sure what you're talking about. At 3:11 that's an adult bull giraffe and those bumps on its face are normal bony growths just beneath the skin much like its horns. Just after that shot it shows babies from different angles bending over to eat. It's difficult for them to reach down, so they have to stretch out their legs. They have valves in the blood vessels of their neck to help prevent passing out if they raise their head too quickly.

Yeah, it is a bit. It's called flehmen or lip-curl response. The male is testing the female's urine in order to tell if she's ready to be bred.

im glad that i'm a human cuz u can jus ask a girl instead of lickin the girl's p lol