Hi I'm Danny! I'm travelling around the world! Follow me.
I'm staying in one of the many wildlife conservancies that border the Maasai Mara national reserve in Kenya. For the next couple weeks I'm going to try and post each evening from The Naboisho Conservancy.
Giraffe
On todays game drive we saw some giraffes from our vehicle. They are a little skittish so we couldn't get too close without them stopping what they were doing to stare at us. The giraffe calves stayed really close to the mother and she appeared to be quite protective. The male giraffes are also territorial and will fight to keep and win over the female giraffes.
Giraffes have the same amount of bones in their necks as human and they also have a special valve in their head which no other animals have. Being so tall they need a valve to regulate the pressure of their blood to stop their head exploding when they lower/raise their neck to drink water.
The channel 4 series Inside Natures Giants had an episode about Giraffes. In the episode Richard Dawkins showed that the giraffe is at the absolute brink of evolution. They used to have small necks and feed on small bushes - evolution has transformed them into what they are today. You can watch the clip here.
Scientists have done a lot of studying on this and even NASA has studied the valve and how it affects blood pressure. They are a fascinating animal.
Follow me here and check out my old posts!
Bonito's beautiful waters
The 2000 year old sinkhole | Underground Cave Diving | Untouched Blue Caves | Floating Down the River | Ziplines into crystal clear water | Bonito is absolutely Stunning | 50 SBD Giveaway!
Columbia & Trekking to the hidden city
First thoughts about Columbia | Trekking to the hidden city (Day 2) | Day 3 | Day 4 | Day 5 | Trekking to the hidden city (50 SBD Giveaway!)
The Pantanal Wetlands and Wildlife
My Trip to The Pantanal | Swimming With Caiman | Giant Guinea Pigs | Photographing Blue Macaws | We got attacked my Howler Monkeys! | 50 SBD Giveaway