XI 



A TERRIFIC BLOW 221 



(" Leopards, two leopards"). They soon explained 

 to me exactly what had happened. As the giraffe 

 calf was following its mother, two leopards had 

 attacked it. They must, however, have been 

 driven from their prey very quickly, as I could 

 only find a few claw-marks upon the body of the 

 calf. Its mother had evidently struck at the 

 leopards with her forefeet, as we found several 

 freshly-made marks where her sharp hoofs had 

 struck the hard ground. Unfortunately, one of 

 these terrific blows, very probably the first aimed 

 at the leopard which had attacked the calf, had 

 struck the little creature on the loins and broken 

 its back, or at any rate paralysed its hind-quarters. 

 I searched all round for the leopards, but could 

 not find them, and was obliged to kill the calf, 

 for it could only have died a lingering death if 

 I had not done so, or been torn to pieces sooner or 

 later by leopards or hyaenas. 



I don't think giraffes ever give birth to more 

 than one calf at a time. The calves are born, in 

 South-Western Africa, towards the end of the dry 

 season or early in the rainy season, that is, during 

 the months of September, October, November, or 

 December. 



