You may think that all elephants, zebras and giraffes look the same … but if you take a closer look you will see that zebras all have slightly different stripey markings; the same applies to the markings on giraffes; but you have to look at an elephant’s footprint to notice the difference between individuals.

Did you know these 5 facts about giraffe ?

A male giraffe has thicker horns, which are bald on the very top as they use their horns for fighting, and the hair gets rubbed off.

A female giraffe has thinner horns with tufts of black hair on the very top of the horns.

Giraffe sleep on their knees.

Giraffe cannot keep their head down for more than 45 seconds otherwise the blood will rush to their brain and cause a hemorrhage. So you will never see a giraffe drink for a long time.

Giraffe walk with their 2 left legs going forward, then their 2 right legs going forward, which gives them that ‘ambling’ gait.

Giraffes are herbivores – everyone knows that – so when you are out in the bush and you come across a giraffe standing chewing what looks like a bone … you are certainly within your right to think your eyes are completely deceiving you and you should have gone to SpecSavers.

But don’t panic … because the giraffe is indeed chewing on a bone. They will pick up discarded bones from the remains of skeletons that the hyenas don’t want anymore, and will chew on the bone to get the calcium to supplement their diet.

We always say that a trip to Namibia is not only an adventure, but it is also offers some superb game viewing opportunites … for these guests travelling with Springbok Atlas, this was certainly true !

I wonder if the giraffe was just lost and asking for directions to the nearest waterhole though ?

Number 3 in the folklore series … hope you are enjoying them !

Why the Rhino is Bad-Tempered

In the Beginning, the Giraffe had a normal neck, and looked a bit like a large Antelope.

One year, there was a terrible drought. All the waterholes dried up, and all the grass became very parched and bitter tasting. All the animals were extremely hungry.

Giraffe realised that the leaves on the tree tops were still fresh and tasty, and he tried to stretch his neck upwards to reach them, but couldn’t.

His friend, Rhino, seeing his friend try this, laughed at how silly he looked.

Giraffe was annoyed at being laughed at, and stormed off into the bush. He passed an old man who asked why Giraffe was so angry. Giraffe told him.

“Never mind,” said the old man. “I am a witchdoctor, and I have a special herb here which will make your friend Rhino regret laughing at you.”

He gave the herb to Giraffe, who ate it quickly.

Suddenly, Giraffe had the strangest feeling. His neck was getting longer!

He felt very dizzy as the ground started to get further and further away, and closed his eyes.

When he reopened them, he could see the lucious leaves at the top of the trees were level with his head, and he eagerly began to eat them.

When Rhino heard what had happened to his friend, he became very bad-tempered, and to this day, the Rhino is still in a bad mood.