Have you ever heard a giraffe call? Me neither! And I’ve spent my whole life on this continent!
But amazingly they can make vocalizations just like us, as they do have vocal cords, but seem to just choose not to. They can make moos, grunts, snorts, coughs and have recently been found to hum, yes hum! Surprising huh! Because of their long necks, it takes a lot of energy to blow air from the lungs to the vocal cords in order to make them vibrate, thus giraffes stay rather quiet most of the time. Recent research has found that they produce a rather odd type of call, a hum, emitted at night only. The research concluded that they use visual communication during the day and thus do not need to vocalise and will only sometimes use vocal communication at night in the form of a hum. But for what reason, what messages are being sent? No one knows and further research will have to be done.
Author
Julien is French and Scottish, born in 1988 in Nairobi Kenya.
He's a professional Nature Guide and Trails Guide speaking both French and English. He has been lucky enough to have worked in some of the most amazing destinations Africa has to offer, from East Africa to Southern Africa, as well as some time in Central Africa.
From a very young age he knew he needed to work with animals, big or small, and somewhere in nature. He was always picking creatures up and trying to see the world from their perspective, trying to understand them as much as possible, mesmerised by their shapes and colours. He liked to share this passion with everyone around, always trying to get them involved in his discoveries. Nature is all around us, in Europe, Asia or Africa, all we have to do is realise it.
Comments