Litocranius walleri

IUCN

Alias：Litocranius walleri,Kirin Antelope

Basic Information

Scientific classification

name：Litocranius walleri
Aliases：Litocranius walleri,Kirin Antelope
Outline：Ungulata
Family：Artiodactyla Bovidae Geiranger

Vital signs

length：About 150 cm
Weight：40-50kg
lifetime：About 12 years

Feature

mammal whose name originated from the somali language

Details

Giraffe (scientific name: Litocranius walleri), also known as Kirin antelope. Its name originates from the Somali word for mammal.

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Giraffes usually live alone or in pairs, and occasionally 6 or 7 females live together in small groups led by a male. Unlike other antelopes, giraffes do not eat low-lying plants. Their foraging habits are very similar to those of giraffes, which use their long upper lips and tongues to pull leaves to eat. They often stand upright on their hind legs and support the trunk with their front legs. They extend their necks in a straight line with their bodies to reach the highest, fresh and juicy leaves. Giraffes rarely drink water and rely mostly on food to get the water they need. Giraffes are active throughout the day and rest only at night. Due to its slender limbs, it can jump very quickly and its movements are very graceful.

The giraffe's food mainly consists of young leaves, leaf buds, and flower buds. It also likes to eat young branches of acacia, and rarely eats grass and herbs. What is particularly unique is that it can stand upright on its hind legs and eat more food. The leaves at high places can maintain the balance of the center of gravity without any extra posture. The long legs and long neck extend the giraffe's foraging space to a height of 2-2.6 meters.

The natural enemies of the giraffe include leopards, cheetahs, lions, hyenas, wild dogs and other predators. When a predator approaches, the giraffe does not immediately run away like most antelopes, but tries to hide itself as much as possible without being discovered. The brown-red fur is a good camouflage. When they are motionless, they can blend into the background. Depending on the distance of the beast, they will bend their bodies as much as possible to hide in the trees. Once the beast gets too close, they will They will burst out of the trees, leaping and escaping at full speed.

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The male giraffe has a strange courtship posture during mating. He often follows the female with a commanding attitude, kicks her legs repeatedly, and finally rides on the female. The female gives birth to cubs after a gestation period of 6-7 months, and quickly eats the postpartum afterbirth, leaving no trace of the birth of the cubs to natural enemies to prevent the cubs from falling into the hands of natural enemies. The cub is hidden alone in a hidden place. After suckling, it is separated from the mother and hidden motionless again.

The sexual maturity period of giraffe is 18 months for males and 9 months for females. It can breed throughout the year, with a gestation period of 6.5-7 months, and one calf per litter. Normally, a female giraffe gives birth to four cubs every three years.

There are images of giraffes in paintings in ancient Egyptian tombs dating from 5600 BC. The Somalis have always refused to eat the meat of giraffes. They believe that giraffes are relatives of camels. If they kill giraffes, they will suffer from diseases. It will spread and take away their camels. However, after the Europeans came here, the giraffes began to be hunted and almost became extinct. Fortunately, the giraffes were protected in time, and their numbers have increased slightly in the past 50 years.

It is listed in the 2015 Red List of Endangered Species of the World Conservation Union (IUCN) ver 3.1 - Near Threatened (NT).

Protect wild animals and eliminate wild game.

Maintaining ecological balance is everyone’s responsibility!

Location

The antelope is distributed in dry areas of East Africa, such as Somalia, Ethiopia, Tanzania, and Kenya.
The antelope lives in dry thorny jungle areas and even desert areas.

Form

The giraffe has a body length of 1.5 meters, a tail length of 0.25 meters, a shoulder height of 0.9-1 meters, and a weight of 40-50 kilograms. Males have horns, while females have no horns. The horns are about 40 cm long. Its most distinctive feature is its giraffe-like long neck and slender legs.
The male has a thick, harp-shaped horn up to 40 centimeters long. Their skin is red on the back, lighter on the sides, and white on the belly.
The name giraffe originates from the Somali word for a mammal that can stand on one hind leg. Only the male has short, thick, harp-shaped horns up to 17 centimeters long. Their skin is red on the back, lighter on the sides, and white on the belly. Giraffes are found only in Somalia and Kenya in Africa. The giraffe is famous for its slender and graceful body.