A Southern Giraffe, Giraffa giraffa, browsing an acacia bush in Chobe National Park in the north of Botswana, Southern Africa.
There is ongoing debate in the scientific community as to how many species/subspecies of Giraffe there are. At the moment, it seems like the giraffes in Chobe NP are the subspecies G.g.giraffa, usually called South African Giraffe. The giraffes which live further south in Botswana, e.g. in the central Kalahari are Angolan Giraffes, like those who live in Namibia’s Etosha National Park.
Giraffes have adaptations to allow them to feed on acacia, which is their favourite food. Adult giraffes can eat up to 29kg of acacia leaves and twigs each day.
They have narrow mouths to enable them to feed between the long, strong thorns.
Their lips and palates are tough
Their long (45cm) tongues are prehensile, enabling them to pluck leaves from between the thorns
They have thick saliva which protects their insides from any thorns which are swallowed
The Giraffes don’t have it all their own way. As well as their long thorns, Acacias can also release tannins, which taste bad and release enzymes which inhibit digestion. So when an acacia tree or bush is being eaten, it releases tannins, as do all the other acacias within c50m, so that the Giraffe has to move on to a further acacia which hasn’t ‘caught wind’ of his appetite.
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