THE GIRAFFE 
GIRAFFA CAMELOPARDALIS. 
O VERLOOKING the world from a height of some 16 to 17 ft, 
> with its short, sloping body, long bushy tail and great 
I length of neck and legs, the giraffe is surely as impressive 
V and wonderful a form of life as any that has ever been 
’ evolved on this planet. Picture-books and zoological 
gardens have, however, made all inhabitants of civilized 
countries, from their childhood upwards, so used to the appearance of 
this strange animal that the many remarkable developments of its huge 
frame usually pass unnoticed. Everything about the giraffe — legs, neck, 
head and tongue — is long drawn out, which gives the animal special 
advantages in the struggle for life by enabling it to browse on the leaves 
of trees high above the ground. 
The giraffe is sometimes spoken of as ungainly, but such an epithet 
could only be applied to one of these animals seen in the unnatural 
surroundings of a European zoological garden. To me, at any rate, 
whenever I have watched them feeding on the tall feathery -leaved acacias, 
to which they are very partial, or stalking slowly and majestically 
through the park-like country they very commonly frequent, giraffes 
have always appeared to be amongst the most graceful and beautiful of 
all wild creatures. 
Although during the last few years as many as thirteen or fourteen 
differing forms of giraffe have been thought worthy of sub -specific rank, 
and have been accorded distinguishing names by British or German 
naturalists, Mr Lydekker (in “ The Game Animals of Africa,” page 354) 
tells us that, “ with the exception of the very distinct Somali species, all 
the known varieties of the giraffe may be regarded as local races of a 
single specific type technically known as Giraffa Camelopardalis .” 
All giraffes carry two horns on the summit of the skull, between the 
ears, but whilst in most of the northern and eastern races there is a third 
horn on the forehead as well, in all the races of South and South-West 
Africa this third horn is only represented by a thickening of the skull, 
which gives this part of the face a convex appearance. 
In the Somali giraffe, which carries a frontal horn of fair size, the 
ground colour of the body is a rich chestnut red, covered with a network 
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