Though normally silent, calves make mewing calls. Courting bulls may emit a raucous cough. Giraffes also give alarm snorts, and moaning, snoring hissing, and flutelike sounds have been reported.

HOW IT MOVES: Giraffe has two ways to locomote. Walk and gallop. In galloping it can reach the top speed of 37 mph [60 kph] The giraffe's legs work in pairs like a running rabbit. To drink, a giraffe must either straddle or bend its forelegs.

REPRODUCTION: The Giraffe has babies all year. It has the most during rainy season. First pregnant in fourth year, gestation 14 to 14.5 months; minimum interval hetween calves c. 16 months. Males begin competing for matings at 7 years of age. Male's also gains weight with age, through bone deposition the process that creates the extra knobs on an old bull's head enabling a bull to deliver ever heavier blows during contests. Combat is rare, though, as bulls from the same area all know their place in a rank hierarchy established through daily contests while maturing in bachelor herds. By the time a female is ready to mate, the local first male has defeated all lesser rivals without ever coming to blows or conflict.

OFFSPRING AND MATERNAL CARE: A cow returns to the same location each time she has calves. The first week or so a calf lies out half the day and most of the night, carefully guarded by its mother. The increased security of a maternity group guarding calves in a creche allows a mother to go further and stay away longer. But calves are rarely left totally unattended; absent mothers usually return before dark to suckle their offspring and stay with them overnight. Although giraffes are weaned as yearlings and nutritionally independent at 16 months, the maternal bond lasts up to 22 months.