Giraffe Territory: All Are Welcome!
Giraffes
are non-territorial animals. They
are very social and usually travel in packs. The social behavior of giraffes is informal and the individuals in the
herd are often changing as they migrate, even within a short time span of 24
hours. Although giraffes
travel in packs, there is no coordination to their herd movements. The main
reason for their travel is in search of food sources, which leads their
direction of migration. Even though they travel in herds, giraffes usually
browse for food independently. There
is typically no leader of the pack, but males demonstrate their dominance
through a behavior called “necking.”
Necking
is a way in which male giraffes test the strength of other males. To do this, both male giraffes swing
their necks at each other in an attempt to strike the other with their horns. This can occur at high and low
intensities depending on the males participating in the necking. The strength of the blow given from one
male giraffe to another depends on the weight of the skull and the strength of
the swing. When a male is on the
defense during a necking battle, he will move out of the way of the opponents
swing at the last second, and then prepare to attack immediately after. Those males that win in the display of
dominance through necking get their choice of mate and thus, are more likely to
reproduce.
In
addition to their non-territorial behavior, giraffes show no preference for
others in their herd. The females
in the herd will even look out for other giraffes' calves.
Interesting fact of the week: Giraffes have highly adaptive
eyesight. They are more likely to
rely on their eyes, over their sense of smell, to gain awareness of their surroundings.
"The
Giraffe - DesertUSA." Desert Biomes by DesertUSA. Web. 15 Feb.
2012.
<http://www.desertusa.com/animals/giraffe.html>.
"Giraffe
-- Kids' Planet -- Defenders of Wildlife." Defenders of Wildlife -
Kids' Planet. Web. 15 Feb. 2012.
<http://www.kidsplanet.org/factsheets/giraffe.html>.
"Wildlife:
Giraffe." AWF. Web. 15 Feb. 2012. <http://www.awf.org/content/wildlife/detail/giraffe>.
"Giraffes." Animal Corner.
Web. 15 Feb. 2012.
<http://www.animalcorner.co.uk/wildlife/giraffes/giraffe_about.html>.
I never knew the "necking" behavior of giraffes and always thought they were such calm creatures. It's interesting that they participate in necking battles to portray dominance to other giraffes, but they don't engage that way with any other animals. The video was funny and cool to actually see them doing this action.
ReplyDeleteWow this is really interesting! What is the structure and composition of the giraffe's neck that prevent them from breaking each other's necks upon an initial impact? This post also made me wonder how giraffes defend themselves against other species, do they also swing their necks at them in defense?
ReplyDeleteSuch an interesting animal!! I wonder why only the males partake in the necking behavior.
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