G is for ....
If you ask any kids what giraffes are, you will learn the three main characteristics. They are herbivores with long necks, long legs and are found in Africa. This would make them ideal prey animals yet you will be hard pressed to find many nature documentaries giraffes as meals for predators.
The spotted coat of the giraffe is supposed to help it camouflage. While I do accept that argument for the young calves, it is a difficult argument if the animal in question has a distinct silhouette. The giraffe does have acute eyesight, hearing and smell. Its long neck helps further its view and this makes the creature extremely difficult to sneak up upon. Moreover, as the giraffe stays in herds, this allows the members of the herd to share the task of keeping a look out.
The reason why adult giraffes are seldom preyed upon is that the adult animal is quite massive. Most toys do not show the actual proportion of the giraffe to the rest of the animals. Even if the toy manufacturers had the proportions correct or the kids had been to the zoo, they would not have known that the giraffe was three times the weight of a zebra.
To put that in perspective, an adult giraffe is half the weight of a rhino and about two-thirds the weight of a hippo. In comparison, male lions are a quarter to a fifth the weight of a giraffe. Suddenly frontal attacks do not look so easy. For those people who are not strong in physics, what makes a moving object dangerous is its kinetic energy. It is represented by this equation KE = 1/2MVï¼’while M is the mass and V is the velocity. Assuming that the lion and giraffe are moving at the same speed, the lion will be facing five times the kinetic energy that it can generate. This makes tackling the giraffe a little tough.
Secondly, the giraffe's body is easily 1.5 meters above the ground. This makes neck breaking attack a little difficult. Most big jungle cats have little difficulty leaping 1.5 metres vertically but to do against a galloping giraffe is no mean feat. This requires the predator to get close to the giraffe. This is when things become interesting.
A giraffe's legs may look long and thin but this disguises its true danger. The thin long legs end in hard hoofs which generate powerfully painful kicks or stomps. The giraffe can be ambushed by crocodiles when it is drinking but otherwise is not too concerned with predators. A pride of lions can bring down an adult giraffe but it members will have to be literally prepared to be kicked in the teeth.
The spotted coat of the giraffe is supposed to help it camouflage. While I do accept that argument for the young calves, it is a difficult argument if the animal in question has a distinct silhouette. The giraffe does have acute eyesight, hearing and smell. Its long neck helps further its view and this makes the creature extremely difficult to sneak up upon. Moreover, as the giraffe stays in herds, this allows the members of the herd to share the task of keeping a look out.
The reason why adult giraffes are seldom preyed upon is that the adult animal is quite massive. Most toys do not show the actual proportion of the giraffe to the rest of the animals. Even if the toy manufacturers had the proportions correct or the kids had been to the zoo, they would not have known that the giraffe was three times the weight of a zebra.
To put that in perspective, an adult giraffe is half the weight of a rhino and about two-thirds the weight of a hippo. In comparison, male lions are a quarter to a fifth the weight of a giraffe. Suddenly frontal attacks do not look so easy. For those people who are not strong in physics, what makes a moving object dangerous is its kinetic energy. It is represented by this equation KE = 1/2MVï¼’while M is the mass and V is the velocity. Assuming that the lion and giraffe are moving at the same speed, the lion will be facing five times the kinetic energy that it can generate. This makes tackling the giraffe a little tough.
Secondly, the giraffe's body is easily 1.5 meters above the ground. This makes neck breaking attack a little difficult. Most big jungle cats have little difficulty leaping 1.5 metres vertically but to do against a galloping giraffe is no mean feat. This requires the predator to get close to the giraffe. This is when things become interesting.
A giraffe's legs may look long and thin but this disguises its true danger. The thin long legs end in hard hoofs which generate powerfully painful kicks or stomps. The giraffe can be ambushed by crocodiles when it is drinking but otherwise is not too concerned with predators. A pride of lions can bring down an adult giraffe but it members will have to be literally prepared to be kicked in the teeth.
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