Posted on 11/27/2018 12:08:26 PM PST by ETL
While already known that giraffes display preferred choices of companion within their social group, until now it has not been clear what drives these and whether these choices are just some, or all of the time. University of Bristol researcher Zoe Muller and her colleagues from Switzerland, Kenya, Brazil and the United Kingdom aimed to explore what factors drive specific interactions in giraffes, and whether behavioral state or disturbance by humans and predators had any effect on social relationships
“The dynamic nature of animal societies often hides multiple layers of complexity,” Muller said.
“Our work highlights the complex and dynamic nature of the giraffe social structure, which could have far-reaching implications for conservation, and guide the process of how giraffe populations are managed in the wild.”
Muller and co-authors spent almost two years studying giraffes in the Great Rift Valley region of Kenya, to analyze association patterns in wild populations.
Through photo-identification data, the researchers were able to determine individual giraffes and then observe them in a range of different habitats.
Using the data gathered, they found that many pairs of giraffes would spend a high proportion of their time together when they were searching for food and eating.
“This behavior is displayed because eating with known and selected friends offers benefits to the individual,” Muller said.
“It is presumable that if you are with a ‘known’ partner, they may be reliable at alarming you if a predator is around, or it may be that you both share the same meal requirements, and so your foraging and eating behavior is complementary.”
The findings, published in the journal Animal Behaviour, offer completely new information about the social preferences of giraffes, and an insight into some of the possible evolutionary mechanisms which have shaped social groups today.
(Excerpt) Read more at sci-news.com ...
I don’t believe in suicide, but you have to admit, Toys ‘R Us had a good run, and once the music stopped...
Toys r Us is still around in Canada. Not as many stores as it used to have but I have seen an advertising flyer about the Christmas sales. Not sure if the giraffe mascot is still being used though. How long they will continue is anyone’s guess but I think they survive because they were to some degree separate companies.
Heck yeah - let’s party like giraffes! Giraffes are cool.
And even though they are legit kosher I’d never eat one!
Now that is bleepin sad.
Males are bulls, females are cows and babies are calves.
Think they could have come up with something more original.
It is, even though we know it’s just someone in a costume.
Man, get that much neck wound up and you’re talking some serious centrifugal force.
How often do you think giraffes go to the chiropractor?
"In my professional opinion, not nearly enough."
And the tallest objects in a lightning storm. And force them to shelter.
https://abcnews.go.com/US/florida-safari-park-mourns-tragic-loss-giraffes-killed/story?id=63642330
Lol!
I’m curious, how did you come across this thread? It’s from nearly 7 months ago.
search ‘giraffes’ and then decided not to start a topic.
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