Maasai Giraffe Herd | Iconic African Wildlife On Safari | Zebra Plains

A lovely herd of Maasai giraffe seen during a safari in Kenya

Giraffa tippelskirchi

The Masai giraffe, also known as Kilimanjaro giraffe is a remarkable species that is not only the largest giraffe but also the highest terrestrial animal in the world.

It is part of the Giraffidae family, described for the first time in 1898. Its scientific name is in honor of Herr von Tippelskirch, who was a member of a German scientific expedition to East Africa that took information and skin samples back to Europe for the first time.

Familia: Giraffidae
Genus: Giraffa
Species: Giraffa tippelskirchi
Former – Giraffa camelopardalis tippelskirchi

Adult males reach a height of up to 19.5 feet, and females are not much smaller because they reach between 16 and 18 feet. Their legs are about two meters long, like the neck, which is internally formed by seven long vertebrae and externally shows a mane all the way down it. Their body is also massive and weighs up to three tons. Males can weigh from 2,000 to 3,000 pounds while females can weigh from 1,300 to 2,000 pounds.
Their feet measure approximately 12 inches in length and their tongue 18 to 20 inches. Its tail is the longest of all terrestrial animals, measuring up to 3.3 feet in length. The heart of a Masai weighs 25 pounds on average and pumps 60 liters of blood per minute. The extension of their extremities, allows them to reach great speeds of up to 35 mph when they run.

The spots on this particular species of giraffe are jagged compared to the others. While the males have darker spots than the females with age, the dominant male have the darkest of all, and it may not be that way when he first steps into his role. It is unknown what results in this physical change.

Compared to other species and subspecies that do not have the distinctive patches on the legs, or that start fading below the knees, the Masai giraffes have them completely covering the limbs.The leg part at the bottom of them is very skinny and stick like in appearance. This thin leg bone has to be incredibly sturdy to support the weight of a huge animal like this.
It is possible to differentiate the Masai giraffe from the other species mainly by the design of its fur “stamped” with irregular patches, which are darker in the dominant males, but generally, they are of brown with several shades of such color. Its skin resembles a group of dried oak leaves arranged on a background that can have several shades of a lighter color, like orange or cream.
As they age, males can develop calcium deposits in their skulls, which gives them the appearance of having more ossicones. When they are young, the males have such ossicones more developed than the females, who have them thinner and covered with hair.

The anatomy of the neck is very peculiar as it has valves that work in a way that when a giraffe bends over for water, they don’t suffer brain damage due to blood rushing to the head area.
As all giraffe species, the Masai giraffes are native to the African continent, specifically to the savannas at the center and south of Kenya, as well as Tanzania. The Rhodesian giraffe (Thornicroft Giraffe), an ecotype of the Masai giraffe, inhabits only the Luangwa Valley in Zambia. Rwanda also has a few relocated specimens.

Filmed in the Maasai Mara National Reserve Kenya
Filmed in 4K UHD resolution using the Sony AX100 4K video camera: https://go.magik.ly/ml/hory/
Special thanks to Zebra Plains Mara Camp

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