Masai Giraffe
Giraffa camelopardalis tippelskirchi · Mammals
Masai Giraffe, on the move
Masai Mara, 20 February 2020
A Masai Giraffe on the move across the Mara grassland, between one stand of acacia and the next. This is the giraffe of Kenya and Tanzania, and the tallest animal on earth, and it covers the open ground between trees at a walk that looks slow and isn't.
The ragged, vine-leaf blotches mark out the Masai giraffe from the clean-edged reticulated giraffe further north. A giraffe's walk is unusual among four-legged animals: both legs on one side move together rather than the diagonal gait most mammals use, which gives the whole body a rolling, unhurried sway even at a working pace.
Masai Giraffe
Masai Mara, 19 February 2020
A Masai Giraffe browsing the acacias of the Mara, the giraffe of Kenya and Tanzania and the biggest of the lot. It lives on the savanna wherever there are trees tall enough to be worth the neck, and it can go weeks without drinking, taking the water from the leaves.
Told from the other giraffes by the blotches: ragged, vine-leaf edges rather than the clean-edged polygons of the reticulated giraffe further north. The neck holds seven vertebrae, the same number as ours, each one enormously drawn out. Getting blood to the top takes a heart of around eleven kilograms and roughly twice human blood pressure, with valves in the neck veins to stop it spiking when the animal lowers its head to drink.
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