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GIRAFFES.
Term Paper ID:26273
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Essay Subject:
Behavior, habitat, herds, sexuality, birthing, social & mother-newborn relationships.... More...
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6 Pages / 1350 Words
5 sources, 24 Citations,
APA Format
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Paper Abstract:
Behavior, habitat, herds, sexuality, birthing, social & mother-newborn relationships.
Paper Introduction:
Giraffes, (biological name Giraffa camelopardalis), are the tallest animals on earth. Males grow up to 18 feet in height, females to about 14 feet. An adult giraffe weighs about 1,800 pounds. They live in the subsaharan grasslands of Africa. This paper will look at the mating customs and strategies, reproduction, and the parental and alloparental rearing of the offspring of giraffes.
Giraffes are individualistic in nature, and do not form cohesive herds or stable family units. Individuals wander from herd to herd, and herds take on a different makeup at different times. Changes occur daily in some herds as giraffes leave one group to join another. Herds may be made up of either females and their young of both sexes, young and mature males, a mixed group of males and females, or a family unit of a mature bull
Text of the Paper:
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In anger, the head is lowered almost to the horizontal position,which signals a threat. Giraffes frequently nose one another's body, neck orhead. Sometimea herd will be led by a female, but it is usually the largest bull in amixed herd who is the dominant animal. New York: Charles Scribner's Sons. These nurseries form and break up casually, as with all othergiraffe groupings (Mochi and MacClintock, p. 6 ). Females usually mature earlier than males, and reach full heightby five years. 58). Soon the horns become erect and thecartilage is replaced by bone (Mochi and MacClintock, p. Individuals wander from herd to herd, andherds take on a different makeup at different times. Mothers pay a great deal of attention to their newborn calves. Themother forms a bond by nosing, and the two are inseparable at first.Nuzzling is a tactile encounter used to examine the new calf (Mochi andMacClintock, p. The young always remainclose enough to their family band to retain visual contact with itslookouts (Lavine, p. They also sometimes lick one another's neck, mane, horns, or eyes,or rest their heads against each other. 79). Because of this loose parental bonding, calves band together forcompanionship for the first four or five months of life (Planet Giraffe,1999). 86). 72). After the second day, the calf follows its mother. Because of their individualistic nature and the factthat they do not form stable herds, giraffes are polygamous through theirlifetime. 88). How baby animals learn. An adult giraffe weighs about 1,8 pounds. Flehmening is a male prerogative, distinct from theurine licking done by giraffes of both sexes, young and old. He may also test the cow'sreadiness to mate by resting his head against her flank. During thebirth, the cow stands erect, and the baby, usually six feet tall, andweighing 15 pounds, drops five to five and a half feet to the ground(Lavine, p. An old bullmay object to a young bull who is seeking a mate from among his group, andexpel him, but this is not a common practice. Before calving, a cow usually finds a sheltered spot. The mother immediately licks the baby clean, and itis able to stand up and within an hour, begins nursing from one of themother's four teats, often for as long as ten minutes the first time (Mochiand MacClintock, p. Planet Giraffe. The spots on the calvestend to be paler than those on the adult, and they may change shape as thecalf grows. Herds may bemade up of either females and their young of both sexes, young and maturemales, a mixed group of males and females, or a family unit of a maturebull with females and their young (Lavine, p. A bull may have to follows a cow for hoursbefore successfully mating with her. He may have to follow her for hours before she willaccept him, but he is usually successful, unless chased off by an oldermale. They live in thesubsaharan grasslands of Africa. Changes occur dailyin some herds as giraffes leave one group to join another. The bull collects some of the urine with his tongue, then extends hishead and holds it motionless for a minute or two. Available at:http://planetpets.simplenet.com/plntgraf.htm----------------------- 8 Mating strategies arevery simplified, with a young bull following a cow in heat and attemptingto mate with her. A giraffe's home range is estimated to beforty to fifty square miles (Mochi and MacClintock, p. References Giraffe, Giraffa camelopardalis. Two unusual behaviorpatterns are associated with mating in giraffes: flehmening, and use of theleg beat (Mochi and MacClintock, p. Available at: wildlife@exis.net Lane-O'Neill, A. Giraffes use their neck to express emotions. Older males and females tend to live alone, whilebulls in the prime of their life wander far and wide in search of a mate,and wander from herd to herd. Although calves will nurse for as long as two years,they do not go hungry during these absences since they are samplingvegetation by the time they are three weeks old (Lavine, p. 47). 57). Females can calve from age five on, up until about 2 yearsof age. This paper will look at the matingcustoms and strategies, reproduction, and the parental and alloparentalrearing of the offspring of giraffes. The baby is usuallynot hurt in the fall. His upper lip curlsupward. The gestation period for a giraffeis 15 months. Male giraffes are sexually mature at four and a half years, but donot reach their full height until seven years of age. 76). If she moves off,the bull usually persists. (1986). The mother, as well as nursing the calf, has to protect it frompredators such as lions, and if one is spotted, the calf takes refuge underthe cow's belly (Lavine, p. The mother will defend her young withviolent kicks to any attacker. (1996). Themother, with the aid of other cows beyond child-bearing age, cares for theyoung, with no input whatsoever from the father. The actual mating is brief, but isrepeated a number of times within a period of several hours. 92). If a younggiraffe is killed, the mother will stay close by, chasing off hyenas, whichgather to share the kill. They formloose associations, but no permanent family groups, or even herds. Flehmening occurs when a malegiraffe finds an interesting smell (flehmening is common to almost allungulate species). 87). This closes off his nostrils, trapping odors in the nasal cavitywhere they can be thoroughly assessed by the olfactory epithelium, which isthe smell-sensitive lining of the nose. The hair is soft,short and woolly, not bristly like that of adults. This is presumed to be the method by which the bullgiraffe tests for cows in heat - by detecting hormone changes in urinesamples. The bull may then eject the urinefrom his mouth. However, giraffe mothers do not make ideal parents. Occasionally, twins are born, but more often just one calf.More than half the calves born die during the first year of life, usuallyas they fall prey to predators, such as lions (Lavine, p. To express submission, a giraffe stretches itsneck and raises its nose in the air. A male giraffe, on joining a herd flehmens (or sniffs) the urine offemales after initiating urination by pushing his nose against the cow'shindquarters, or licking and nibbling her tail (Mochi and MacClintock, p.77). Newborn giraffes are most vulnerable topredators while they are lying in the grass (Wildlife, 1999). Although there is little competition among young bulls for cow's inheat, because of the loose structure of giraffe herds, males do enter intohead-slamming matches to establish hierarchy, or ranking order, of physicaland sexual dominance, and serious battles are avoided (Mochi andMacClintock, p. Giraffes are sexually mature at three to four years of age andreproduce sexually. Calves will browse together, or lie down close beside one another(Mochi and MacClintock, p. Becauseof this, there is no importance placed on mate selection, and they arepolyandrous and polygamous through their lifetime. Lavine, S. If the mating is successful, a calf is born 15 months later. A herd maycontain a single bull or as many as eight bulls in a mixed herd. The drop breaks the umbilical cord. Mochi, U., & MacClintock, D. 86). (1973). Giraffes are individualistic in nature, and do not form cohesiveherds or stable family units. 61). 92). Kid City, 81, p.5. Wonders of Giraffes. Usuallythere are five or six calves in such a nursery, but there can be as many astwelve. The placenta is often notexpelled until ten hours after the birth, and it becomes food for waitinghyenas and jackals. Males grow up to 18 feet in height, females to about 14feet. A. Occasionally,an older bull will chase off a younger one who is trying to mate with a cowin his group (Mochi and MacClintock, p. A Natural History of Giraffes. (1999). Male herds appear to be of three types: herds of large bulls; herdsin which a large bull appears to have younger males in his care; and herdsof males too old to be with their mothers, and too young to be accepted asadults in mixed herds. Because the family unit as such does not exist among giraffes, andthe giraffes in a particular region represent, in effect, an extendedfamily, the issue of mate selection does not come into play. 58). A bull closely follows a cow in heat and when she stops, the bullraises a foreleg and taps it against the cow's hind leg. Colostrum, the mother's first milk, is vital to the calf, as itcontains antibodies that protect the newborn animal from infection, just asin humans (Mochi and MacClintock, p. 5 ; Mochi and MacClintock, p.44). New York: Dodd, Mead &Co. Though giraffes are mostly silent, calves bleatand make a mewing call, and mothers seeking lost calves will bellow;moaning, snoring, hissing and flute-like sounds have also been heard fromgiraffes (Worldlife, 1999). They will occasionally wander off alone,but always stay within visual contact of the adults. 58). Baby giraffes closely resemble adults, but they have a shorter neck,and their mane may extend the entire length of the back. The background color of a calf also tends to be lighter thanthat of the adult. Giraffes are thus somewhat unique, at least among mammals. If she does notmove away, the bull attempts to mount her. 79-8 ). Mixed herds range in size from an association of a bull and a cow toa herd of fifteen bulls and cows of large and medium size. Malegiraffes play absolutely no role whatsoever in rearing their offspring.Other males in the herd also pay no attention to the young calves. During the first two days of a calf's life, the motherfollows it everywhere. Herds change compositioncontinually, so females are available for any young bull who comes along,and if they are willing, he can mate with them. At birth, the horn cartilage is topped with black hairand lies flat on the skull to ease the birth process, and is attached onlyby connective tissue (Lavine, p. In thenormal position, the angle of the neck is usually 5 to 6 degrees to theground. If a cow is not in heat, the bull loses interest in her and moveson (Mochi and MacClintock, p. Groups of younggiraffes are sometimes looked after by one or two older females who arebeyond child-bearing age while there mothers wander off to browse. After a fewdays, the mother will often wander off for long periods of time, as long asthree days, to graze. Giraffes, (biological name Giraffa camelopardalis), are the tallestanimals on earth. A sexually mature cow comes into heat every 12 to 15 days.Giraffes breed throughout the year, but mating tends to reach seasonalpeaks in different regions of Africa.
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