Maasai Giraffe
Giraffa camelopardalis
Photographed at Nairobi National Park in Kenya. 3 October 2010.
Certainly one of the iconic animals of the African Savanna! Giraffes are ruminants like cattle and deer meaning that the food that is eaten first passes through a pre-stomach chamber called a rumen where microbes assist in the breakdown of cellulose and other complex carbohydrates. Giraffes likewise must regurgitate this inital mix for additional chewing and mixing.
Two additional giraffe varieties occur in Kenya, the Reticulated and Rothschild.