It may be hard for you to imagine how much a giraffe, known in nature as the most "gentleman", isFerocious
They are very vigilant, even when they sleep, they stand up, and when they encounter danger, their powerful hooves come into play, and even lions can be kicked away.
Renderings. How do such tough giraffes mate?
Before that, let's take a look at why giraffes sleep standing up.
In fact, there are many animals that sleep standing in nature, such as elephants, which basically do not lie on the ground except for death.
This is because elephants have large bodies, and when they lie down, they have to sleep on their internal organsLeaning on the stand
Elephant body structure.
The reason why giraffes sleep standing is due to the dangerous natural environment.
Giraffes don't weigh as much as elephants, but they have long necks and limbs, and once they lie down, it takes more than 1 minute just to stand up, making it difficult to react effectively if they encounter danger at this time.
Therefore, giraffes are usually when they are sleepingFalse sleep stateIn order to reduce the burden on their necks, they often choose to lean against trees, and when there is something in the outside world, they will be immediately awakened.
Of course, they don't sleep standing up all their lives, and they fall into deep sleep for about 20 minutes a day.
Giraffe sleeping.
At this point, they will "sit cross-legged" and curl up in a ball with their necks on their bodies like cats.
And the giraffes in the zoo can keep it that way for a long timeRelaxation stateBecause they know that there is no danger in the zoo.
When encountering a predator, the giraffe's first reaction is not to fight back, but to run away.
If they are chased by a lion, they will kick the lion away with their strong hind legs.
It's not accurate to think of giraffes as ferocious animals, it's just a counterattack in a specific situation, and it's usually very gentle.
Studies have shown that giraffes have hind leg strengthVery strong, even a 400-pound lion can be kicked away and bring serious injuries.
Renderings. The behavior of the lion chasing the giraffe's butt on TV is quite unwise, and once it is kicked, it will inevitably hurt the muscles and bones.
They have strong hind leg strength, is a special body structure, because the giraffe's legs are very long, when the force is like a bow, canConcentrate the force of the lower body to one point
This power is terrifying just to think about, and lions have to be very careful when trying to hunt giraffes, they know the severity of the consequences.
Giraffe mating behavior is quite strange in nature, and male giraffes are veritable "fast gunslingers".
A pair of giraffes.
A month before mating, the male giraffe must find a suitable match.
They use a variety of bizarre stamping patterns in front of the female to attract the other's attention, and if the female shows interest, then she can move on to the next move.
If during this time, there are other males who want to compete for the femaleMating rightsWhat to do?
It's very simple, just follow the rules of the "Tao", fight first, and whoever wins the battle will be whom.
Unlike brute fighting, male giraffes are very polite and inflicted on each otherThe damage is limited
They use their slender necks as **, knocking each other until one side retreats, and this "farce" will not end.
Giraffes are in a small fight.
Afterwards, whether it is the winning side or the losing side, they will gently rub their necks against each other, saying that they can still be "buddies" in the future, which is simply not a fight.
The way of rubbing the neck not only occurs between males, but also often occurs in the opposite sex, when males gain the favor of females, they will always flirt in various ways to speed up the arrival of the female's estrus period.
Moreover, once the males find the females, they will follow them every inch and will not leave until they have mated.
Family of three. But giraffes do not strictly adhere to itMonogamySome male giraffes also keep multiple females in captivity, which gives them a greater chance of passing on their genes.
About a month after finding a female, the female's estrus period comes, when the male giraffe is not in a hurry to mate, but interacts with the female by means of a slight neck blow and foot rubbing.
This operation is very long, often able to reach several hours, which is to promote the female to secrete moreEgg cellsto increase the probability of the appearance of a fertilized egg.
Zygote**.
The process of real mating between the sexes is only a few seconds, and sometimes the female doesn't even "feel" it.
Why is the mating process so short? It's a way of dealing with external dangers, and it's a habit over time.
Copulating in a natural environment without legal constraints is a very dangerous behavior, and it is a process that requires full dedication to the predator at any time.
They don't even dare to sleep, so how can they spend too much time mating?
The giraffe's mental state moment, so to speak"Tension"., in this state, naturally do not dare to prolong the time of mating.
Giraffe herd. If the male giraffe feels that his sperm cells are still abundant after mating, or that the sperm and egg cells are not sufficiently combined, they may perform multiple acts.
Once the mating is complete, the rest of the work is basically done by the female giraffesDone independentlyFinish.
The giraffe's gestation cycle is approximately 400 daysGive birth to one calf at a time, fertility efficiency and capacity can be said to be one of the lowest species in nature.
In a hostile environment, baby giraffes must learn to run in a short period of time, otherwise it will be difficult for them to survive the pursuit of lions.
Giraffe cubs.
Within about 20 minutes of birth, you have to learn to stand and run in 3 to 5 hours, and the day is no different from that of a giraffe that is a few weeks old.
It is also relied on such strong learning andAdaptability, the giraffe did not perish in nature.
In addition, the baby giraffe will also be cared for by the "aunt" in the group, and sometimes the mother has to forage for food in a distance, so they will hand over the cubs to the "sister" for a period of time, which undoubtedly increases the group's ability to resist risks.
Giraffe cubs.
However, this does not change the fact that the survival rate of baby giraffes is low, and the data shows that the probability of the cubs growing into adults is only between 25 and 50.
A giraffe is almost as young as 4 years oldSexual maturityThe vast majority of giraffes mate at the age of 7, mainly because the population is too small and it is not easy to meet the "other half".
After that, a new cycle of reproduction will begin again, enveloping the development and continuation of an ethnic group.
Finally, it is worth noting that although giraffes look very elegant, and their "gestures" reveal a noble temperament, they live very hard.
The giraffe's heart grows in3 meters highThey are more than 6 meters tall and must have higher blood pressure if they want to use their heart to send blood pressure to higher places.
Giraffe body structure.
The giraffe's blood pressure is twice that of a human, and its average heart rate is over 150, which is equivalent to the value of a human after strenuous exercise.
Blood pressure is so high that they can'tLong runsWhen they are targeted by lions, they can easily be "overgrown with lions".
When drinking, the giraffe also has to split, and one accidentally may tear the ligament, which shows that it is not easy to maintain an elegant form.