The very first stop on our summer-long zip-line journey was the African grasslands. We had the pleasure of meeting the best safari guide in Kenya, Nicholas Mzuri.
We also had the misfortune of being stranded in the heart of the grasslands when the Man with No Eyebrows stole our Jeep!
After our Jeep was absconded (<-that dictionary app is paying off!), we spent the night in a make-shift fort of acacia branches. I (Tracey) was awakened by a giant purple tongue licking acacia leaves out of my hair.
Needless to say, it was a bit unsettling!
Nicholas calmed me down by sharing about the owner of that purple tongue – the giraffe. We learned cool facts like:
But after we got home and had recovered from a summer’s worth of sonic lag – I was left with one question. How in the world can you tell the difference between the different types of giraffes?
So today, Blaine and I have asked Nicholas to come and share the answer to our burning question with you all!
Hello, friends!
As I shared with Blaine and Tracey while they were on their Mzuri Tours photo safari trip, the spotted patterns of the giraffe's hide help to camouflage them. But those spots can also help us to identify which subspecies of giraffe the particular animal belongs to.
Here is a look at the nine main subspecies of giraffe in Africa.
You can check out this photo collage of the different giraffe coats from the CS Zoo to see these patterns up close. (Photo Collage Credit)
The science of classifying the different subspecies of giraffes is still a work in progress, but I trust that this will give you all a glimpse at how you can tell these amazing creatures apart!
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