THE GIRAFFE AND OK API 103 



foliage also renders the blotched body of the animal 

 very difficult to make out. The giraffe, in fact, 

 assimilates wonderfully with its forest surroundings. 



In South Africa, at all events, these animals range 

 very far from water, and hunting becomes yearly 

 more difficult as the animals decrease in number. In 

 the Northern Kalahari, where I have had experience 

 of them, they certainly exist without drinking for six 

 or seven months at a stretch that is, in the dry season, 

 from April to the end of October. This faculty 

 they share with other desert - loving game, such 

 as eland, gemsbok, hartebeest, and springbuck. In 

 countries where water is to be found, however, giraffe 

 drink periodically. In South Africa, the northern 

 portion of the Kalahari is now one of the last strong- 

 holds of these animals. They are fairly common in 

 the hinterland of Angola, as also in German and 

 British East Africa, Somaliland, Gallaland, the country 

 between Abyssinia and the Nile, and parts of the 

 Soudan. They prefer dry country and are seldom 

 found near swamps and low-lying districts. A .450 

 or .400 rifle is an excellent weapon for these animals. 

 By the stalker on foot they can be secured readily 

 enough with the .303 even. 



A full-grown giraffe bull will measure as much as 

 19 feet in height, a mature cow reaching 17 feet. 

 The coloration of the common or blotched species 

 varies a good deal, and in a single troop animals may 

 be noted ranging from lemon-fawn, through orange- 

 tawny, to dark chestnut. The older animals, especially 

 the bulls, become very dark with age, almost black 



