Video: Four Crazy Things Giraffe Eat - Kariega Game Reserve

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One of the most iconic and favourite animals seen on a safari has to be the giraffe. With their long legs and even longer necks they look like something out of the Jurassic Period. Although giraffes are herbivores and mostly feed on vegetation such as leaves, grass, twigs, fruit and roots; they also eat some crazy things! Here are our list of the top four crazy items that you may see giraffes eating while on safari at Kariega.

Kariega Giraffe Acacia

Top 4 Crazy Things That Giraffe Eat

Acacia Trees with Big Thorns: Giraffes favour eating the leaves and twigs of Acacia trees. This tree is armed with big, white, sharp thorns to protect its juicy leaves from attackers. Giraffe are not deterred by these thorns and they use their long manoeuvrable tongues and tough lips to get around them.
Chewing on Old Bones: Giraffe also chew on old bones. This behaviour is called osteophagy. Giraffes and other antelopes chew bones when they needs more phosphates and calcium in their diet, especially if they are pregnant.
Prickly Pears: This plant is full of sharp spines of various sizes which makes it very difficult for most animals to eat it. Giraffes will feed on these plants during winter when they need some extra nutrients. The fruit of a prickly pear are eaten by monkeys, baboons, some antelope and even humans.
Poisonous Euphorbia Trees: This plant has a poisonous milky latex that can result in death if ingested in large quantities. Giraffes feed on this plant in small quantities during winter. The poison enters their blood system and kills off any internal and external parasites the giraffes might have. Crazy but smart!

Did you see giraffes eating any of these four crazy things on your safari at Kariega Game Reserve? Let us know in the comment section. You are also welcome to post comments and photos on our social media channels including Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.

Comments

I like it

Thanks for the information👍🏻

hi i want to tell you i love your web sight

Can giraffes eat black wattle leaves

Hi Gino,

Thank you for your interesting question. It would be unlikely that giraffe would eat black wattle for two main reasons:

1. Black wattle does not occur naturally in South Africa so giraffes wouldn't have black wattle as a natural food source. 2. Our ecologist says that the tannin level in black wattle leaves is very high and this makes it an unsuitable food for any ruminant (those with a four chambered stomach including any antelope and giraffes). If the animal eats too much tannin the pH in their stomach becomes too acidic and the microbes in their stomach will die. These microbes are the organisms that turn food into energy in the stomach and without these little critters their stomach can be full of food but they may starve to death because no energy is being created.

As a side note if you see young ruminants and hind gut fermenters (zebras, rhinos and elephants) eating their mother's dung they are doing this to get these microbes. They do this when they start to eat vegetation and wean off milk.

The favourite food of a giraffes is the leaves from acacia tree species. These can look very similar to black wattle but lack the big white thorns.

With kind regards from the Kariega team.

Hi, I went to the zoo today and fed a giraffe from a random tree. The worker was a little upset with me and got my name and number in case something happened to it. Do you know if there is any native trees in Michigan that can harm a giraffe? It seemed like a normal tree but the staff said we can only feed them the lettuce they were selling. Should I be worried?

Hi Anthony, I'm afraid that we can't help you whether native trees in Michigan will harm a giraffe. We certainly hope not. Thanks for visiting our blog. Kind regards from the Kariega team.

This was a meme on Facebook ~ “Stop wasting firefighters time to rescue cats out of trees! Employ giraffes to do it unless giraffes would eat the cats. I didn’t do the research.”

I know it’s silly, but would a giraffe be afraid of a cat? Do giraffes have run-ins with any wild animals in the trees they eat their vegetation from? Curious, that’s all.

Hi Paul. Thanks for your interest in Kariega Game Reserve. The key predators of giraffes are lions, leopards, spotted hyenas, crocodiles and African wild dogs. The most likely cat to find in a tree is a leopard which would be very surprising for a browsing giraffe! Take care. Kind regards from the Kariega team.

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