BUSH FACTS
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AnonymousInactiveI read with interest Bryan Havemann’s ‘The Big Five’ article in the August issue of SA4x4, since I am able to add some interesting biological traits. Giraffe, in order to maintain blood supply to the head so as to avoid becoming comatose, possess a series of valves in the blood vessels of the neck. These maintain blood pressure in the cranium. Giraffe regurgitate semi-digested food to ‘chew the cud’. One can often see the bolus being regurgitated up the oesophagus to be masticated in the jaws. Giraffe are susceptible to skin cancer and there have been recent reports of squamous cell carcinomas, which we have seen in Chobe. On our recent visit to Etosha National Park, I came across one with a large nodule on the forehead – probably a melanoma.
We learnt that the main reason for the relatively small size of elephant tusks in Etosha is probably due to nutritional deficiencies where elephants routinely experience either a protein or a vitamin deficiency during the dry season. This could result in weak collagen matrices (the organic structural component of bone). Another fact is that elephants in Etosha are amongst the tallest in Africa, attaining heights in northern Namibia and Angola which range from 3.5 to 4.2 metres. They are generally much taller than elephants in East Africa. Also, elephants in arid regions are taller than those in areas of high humidity – as is known for other species. I was intrigued to learn that the fifth- tallest elephants ever recorded resided in the Namutoni area.
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