The projecting upper lip of the giraffe is remarkably flexible, and its elongated prehensile tongue, performing in miniature the part of the elephant’s proboscis, is of material assistance in browsing upon the foliage and young shoots of the prickly acacia, which constitute the animal’s chief food.
With feet terminating in a divided hoof, and a ruminant like our ox, the giraffe has four stomachs, and an enormous intestinal length of 288 feet, a formation which bears testimony to the vast and prolonged powers of digestion necessary to extract nutrition from its hard and meagre diet.
Ranging throughout the wide plains of Central Africa from Caffraria to Nubia, the giraffe, though a gregarious animal, generally roams about only in small herds, averaging sixteen in number, from the young animal of nine or ten feet in height, to the dark chestnut-coloured old male, towering to a height of upwards of eighteen feet. Notwithstanding the rapidity with which it strides along, the fore and hind leg on the same side moving together, instead of diagonally as in most other quadrupeds, yet a full gallop quite dissipates its strength; and the hunters, being aware of this, always try to press the giraffes at once to it, knowing that they have but a short space to run before the animals are in their power. In doing this the old sportsmen are careful not to go too close to the giraffe’s tail; ‘for this animal,’ says Dr. Livingstone, ‘can swing his hind foot round in a way which would leave little to choose between a kick with it and a clap from the arm of a windmill.’
Captain Harris, in his ‘Wild Sports of Africa,’ gives us an animated picture of a giraffe hunt, breathing the full life and excitement of the chase.
‘Many days had now elapsed since we had even seen the camelopard, and then only in small numbers, and under the most unfavourable circumstances. The blood coursed through my veins like quicksilver therefore as, on the morning of the 19th, from the back of Breslar, my most trusty steed, with a firm-wooded plain before me, I counted thirty-two of these animals industriously stretching their peacock-necks to crop the tiny leaves which fluttered above their heads in a mimosa grove that beautified the scenery. They were within a hundred yards of me; but having previously determined to try the boarding system, I reserved my fire.
‘Although I had taken the field expressly to look for giraffes, and had put four of the Hottentots on horseback, all excepting Piet had as usual slipped off unperceived in pursuit of a troop of koodoos. Our stealthy approach was soon opposed by an ill-tempered rhinoceros, which, with her ugly calf, stood directly in the path, and the twinkling of her bright little eyes, accompanied by a restless rolling of the body, giving earnest of her intention to charge. I directed Piet to salute her with a broadside, at the same moment putting spurs to my horse. At the report of the gun, and the sudden clattering of hoofs, away bounded the giraffes in grotesque confusion, clearing the ground by a succession of frog-like hops, and soon leaving me far in the rear. Twice were their towering forms concealed from view by a park of trees, which we entered almost at the same instant, and twice, in emerging from the labyrinth, did I perceive them tilting over an eminence immeasurably in advance. A white turban that I wore round my hunting cap, being dragged off by a projecting bough, was instantly charged by three rhinoceroses, and, looking over my shoulder, I could see them long afterwards, fagging themselves to overtake me. In the course of five minutes the fugitives arrived at a small river, the treacherous sands of which receiving their long legs, their flight was greatly retarded; and after floundering to the opposite side, and scrambling to the top of the bank, I perceived that their race was run. Patting the steaming neck of my good steed, I urged him again to his utmost, and instantly found myself by the side of the herd. The stately bull being readily distinguishable from the rest by his dark chestnut robe and superior stature, I applied the muzzle of my rifle behind his dappled shoulder with the right hand, and drew both triggers; but he still continued to shuffle along, and being afraid of losing him, should I dismount, among the extensive mimosa groves with which the landscape was now obscured, I sat in my saddle, loading and firing behind the elbow, and then, placing myself across his path, until the tears trickling from his full brilliant eye, his lofty frame began to totter, and at the seventeenth discharge from the deadly-grooved bore, like a falling minaret bowing his graceful head from the skies, his proud form was prostrate in the dust. Never shall I forget the tingling excitement of that moment. At last then, the summit of my hunting ambition was actually attained, and the towering giraffe laid low. Tossing my turbanless cap into the air, alone in the wild wood, I hurraed with bursting exultation, and, unsaddling my steed, sank exhausted beside the noble prize I had won.’
In a similar strain of triumph Gordon Cumming describes his first giraffe hunt: ‘Galloping round a thick bushy tree under cover of which I had ridden, I suddenly beheld a sight the most astounding that a sportsman’s eye can encounter. Before me stood a troop of ten colossal giraffes, the majority of which were from seventeen to eighteen feet high. On beholding me they at once made off, twisting their long tails over their backs, making a loud switching noise with them, and cantering along at an easy pace, which, however, obliged my horse to put his best foot foremost to keep up with them. The sensations which I felt on this occasion were different from anything that I had before experienced during a long sporting career. My senses were so absorbed by the wondrous and beautiful sight before me, that I rode along like one entranced. At every stride I gained upon the giraffes, and after a short burst at a swinging gallop, I was in the middle of them, and turned the finest cow out of the herd. On finding herself driven from her comrades and hotly pursued, she increased her pace and cantered along with tremendous strides, clearing an amazing extent of ground at every bound, while her neck and breast coming in contact with the dead old branches of the trees were continually strewing them in my path. In a few minutes I was riding within five yards of her stern, and firing at the gallop I sent a bullet into her back. Increasing my pace, I next rode alongside, and placing the muzzle of my rifle within a few feet of her, I fired my second shot behind the shoulder; the ball, however, seemed to have little effect. Once more I brought her to a stand, and dismounted from my horse. There we stood together alone in the wild wood. I gazed in wonder at her extreme beauty, while her soft dark eye, with its silky fringe, looked down imploringly at me, and I really felt a pang of sorrow in this moment of triumph for the blood I was shedding. Pointing my rifle towards the skies, I sent a bullet through her neck. On receiving it she reared high on her hind legs and fell backwards with a heavy crash making the earth shake around her. A thick stream of dark blood spouted out from the wound, her colossal limbs quivered for a moment and she expired. No pen nor words can convey to a sportsman what it is to ride in the midst of a troop of gigantic giraffes—it must be experienced to be understood. They emitted a powerful perfume, which in the chase came hot in my face, reminding me of the smell of a hive of heather honey in September.’
After man, the giraffe’s chief enemy is the lion, who often waits for it in the thick brakes on the margin of the rivers or pools, and darts upon it with a murderous spring while it is slaking its thirst. Andersson once saw five lions, two of whom were in the act of pulling down a splendid giraffe, while the other three were watching close at hand the issue of the deadly strife; and Captain Harris relates that, while he was encamped on the banks of a small stream, a camelopard was killed by a lion whilst in the act of drinking, at no great distance from the waggons. It was a noisy affair; but an inspection of the scene on which it occurred proved that the giant strength of the victim had been paralysed in an instant.
Sometimes the giraffe saves itself from the attacks of its arch-enemy by a timely flight; but when hemmed in, it offers a desperate resistance, and in spite of its naturally gentle and peaceable disposition, gives such desperate kicks with its forefeet as to keep its antagonist at a respectful distance, and finally to compel him to retreat.
There are many analogies between the giraffe and the ostrich; both long-legged, long-necked, fit for cropping the tall mimosas, or scouring rapidly the plain; both, finally, defending themselves by striking their feet forwards, the one against the jackal or hyæna, the other against the assaults of the formidable lion.