One always stares in amazement and wonder when a fully grown giraffe runs away. The way their legs move, with knees bending in opposite directions is mesmerizing. The giraffe is one of the more famous or well know ungulates of Africa.

The giraffe is an even-toed ungulate mammal and occurs widespread throughout most of Southern Africa.

Their scientific name is Giraffa Camelopardalis and this is based on their camel-like appearance and the patches of color on its fur. Being the tallest living terrestrial animal, a fully grown male can grow up to 5.2 m on average and a new born is already 1.8m tall when born.

They have the longest gestation period of all the ruminants of about 18months after which they give birth to one calf. Twins do occur but is very rare with giraffes.

Unlike other areas of the country giraffe are seen in large herds or journeys and at Samara we tend to witness breeding herds of up to 30 giraffe at any given time or smaller herds of young males awaiting their opportunity to meet with young females.