306 AFRICAN GAME ANIMALS 



sively a browser, eating only twig tops and blossoms, it lives 

 in dry, open country, in which the trees do not, as a rule, 

 grow close together; it rarely or never ventures into dense 

 forests of the kind in which elephant and other moisture- 

 loving big game often dwell. Its only beast enemy, when 

 adult, is the lion; even the lion attacks it infrequently, and 

 the lion usually hunts its prey by scent; moreover, if a 

 giraffe were near enough for the coloration pattern of its 

 coat to be distinguishable, the lion would be certain to see 

 it anyhow, unless conditions were such as to make all ani- 

 mals escape observation. In any varied landscape, where 

 the ground is accidented, where there are trees, and lights, 

 and shadows, a motionless object of any shape or color may, 

 under certain conditions, escape observation; and any game 

 may, under such conditions, escape the eye even of a wild 

 beast or a native hunter; but even under these conditions 

 the giraffe is far less likely to escape observation than is any 

 of the antelopes, or the buffaloes, or even the rhinoceroses. 

 If it is in such a position that it can be seen at all, it can be 

 seen far more readily than any other animal, except, per- 

 haps, the elephant. Its coloration is of no consequence 

 whatever in enabling it to escape from its foes. When 

 feeding, when coming to drink, when resting, it never seeks 

 to evade observation, and trusts entirely to its own wari- 

 ness, to its keen senses, especially to its sight, and its 

 speed, for protection. 



When we say that the giraffe does not go into dense 

 forests we are using the words one would use in describing 

 tropical forests of the low, wet country. The giraffe is often 

 found in dry thorn forests, but they are sufficiently open to 

 enable a horseman to follow his game at speed. Along the 



