White Oak Conservation Fills Tall Order

It’s a girl! Say hello to the newest member of the White Oak giraffe family. She arrived this past summer at the 17,000-acre White Oak Conservation preserve just a short drive from downtown St. Marys.

Did you know that giraffe calves are 6 foot tall and can weigh 220 pounds at birth? A giraffe’s gestation period is around 15 months. The long gestation allows the calf to be highly developed before birth, which means that within a few hours of being born, calves are able to stand on their own and follow their mother.

Giraffes are predominantly found in open scrub areas. The males can weigh up to 3,000 pounds reaching 16-19 feet; Females – 1,500 pounds 14-15 feet. Their diet consists of leaves and shoots of trees. Their favorite trees are various species of Acacia. The name Giraffe is derived from the Arabic ‘Azarafah’ (one who walks swiftly, gracefully). Giraffes have been clocked at speeds approaching 37 mph. In the walking gait, the legs on one side move forward almost simultaneously, seen elsewhere only in camels and in domestic horses trained to do so.

The giraffe is equipped with a 25 pound heart with 3 inch thick ventricle walls, and a pumping capacity of 16 gallons per continued ...

minute. The 17 inch tongue and the giraffe’s superior height allow for feeding high above the competition.

Giraffes are gregarious and non-territorial, living in loosely organized groups. Females are faithful to particular calving grounds and their single offspring associate in nursery groups (creches). Vocalizations are rare, but giraffes are not mute. Calves bawl when alarmed or excited. Cows, when separated from their calves, may give a roaring bellow, and courting bulls occasionally emit a loud coughing sound. People often confuse the protuberances from the top of the giraffe’s skull with horns, when in fact they are ossicones (skin covered portions of the skull). Adolescent male hierarchies are often determined by the outcome of neck sparring, the delivery of head blows to the opponent. Once supremacy has been established such bouts are amicably terminated.

White Oak has had giraffes since 1987. Some subspecies of giraffe are considered endangered. Current estimates have the population of 68,000 individuals across all (sub) species. This is a considerable drop in the last decade and shows that the plight of the giraffe is in real danger.

Long dedicated to the conservation and care of endangered and threatened species, including rhinoceros, okapi, bongos, zebras, condors, dama gazelles, and cheetahs, White Oak Conservation’s mission is “saving endangered wildlife and habitats through sustainable conservation breeding, education, and responsible land stewardship.”

For more information about White Oak Conservation, visit whiteoakwildlife.org.

73 Hawthorn Lane • St. Marys, Georgia 912-673-6545