Giraffe Notes

Nairobi Park is undoubtedly one of the best places anywhere to observe giraffe (our local species is the Maasai giraffe) & the population is doing very well right now, with many young animals & pregnant females to be seen . But like all the other denizens of the park, the giraffe -already increasing in numbers- face a future of squeeze. The dispersal area outside the park is becoming increasingly humanised (& degraded, or does the term merely mean the other, automatically?) & the giraffe just do not have the range that they used to have, what with quarries, fenced compounds, walls etc. to contend with.
As a result they are pretty hungry right now in the ongoing dry conditions & are roaming far & wide in search of browse, especially at night. In the middle of the Sanctuary is my unfenced garden & here the giraffe have an acre or so of grewia & acacia (mainly brevispica) thicket to browse. We also have plenty of euphorbia & yesterday & this morning I noticed several branches of E. candleabra ripped off & blamed it on the local baboons (the euphorbia has been in flower) but further evidence shows that the giraffe are responsible & that they are increasingly hungry.
Soon the rhino will be back to munch the hedge euphorbia common around the compounds nearby, also eaten by giraffes & their domestic cousins, camels......
Yesterday on the plain below the Langata forest I came across an epic sight: 2 mature adult bull giraffe engaged in full-on & earnest combat for the favours of a pretty young female giraffe, who stood just 30 m from the combatants, apparently fascinated by the sight of giraffe machismo.
A massive pale red bull stood shoulder to shoulder with a magnificent dark blotched rival & swinging their huge boney, behorned heads across each other they battered each other's breasts & upper legs, which were braced for maximum bash & to absorb maximum impact.
These animals are some of the biggest creatures existing on land, bar elephants & rhinos & the power displayed by these usually enigmatic, graceful, usually gentle giants was quite awe-inspiring to watch. Unfortunately I had a meeting & couldn't stay to watch the outcome of this titanic battle for dominance.....