Greeting The New Arrival

Title

Greeting The New Arrival

Artist

Stephanie Grant

Medium

Painting - Acrylic And Ink On Canvas

Description

Mixed media work with textured backgound showing a group of giraffes with a new baby. Ink,acrylic,gel and parchment on canvas.
The giraffe (Giraffa camelopardalis) is an African even-toed ungulate mammal, the tallest living terrestrial animal and the largest ruminant. Its species name refers to its camel-like appearance and the patches of color on its fur. Its chief distinguishing characteristics are its extremely long neck and legs, its horn-like ossicones, and its distinctive coat patterns. It is classified under the family Giraffidae, along with its closest extant relative, the okapi. The nine subspecies are distinguished by their coat patterns.
The giraffe's scattered range extends from Chad in the north to South Africa in the south, and from Niger in the west to Somalia in the east. Giraffes usually inhabit savannas, grasslands, and open woodlands. Their primary food source is acacia leaves, which they browse at heights most other herbivores cannot reach. Giraffes are preyed on by lions; their calves are also targeted by leopards, spotted hyenas, and wild dogs. Adult giraffes do not have strong social bonds, though they do gather in loose aggregations if they happen to be moving in the same general direction. Males establish social hierarchies through "necking", which are combat bouts where the neck is used as a weapon. Dominant males gain mating access to females, which bear the sole responsibility for raising the young.
Giraffe tails are highly prized by many African cultures, used for making good-luck bracelets, fly whisks, and as thread for sewing or stringing beads Giraffes are easily killed, and poaching (now more often for their meat and hide) continues today.
The giraffe species as a whole is assessed as Least Concern from a conservation perspective by the IUCN, as it is still numerous. However, giraffes have been extirpated from much of their historic range including Eritrea, Guinea, Mauritania and Senegal. They may also have disappeared from Angola, Mali, and Nigeria, but have been introduced to Rwanda and Swaziland. Two subspecies, the West African giraffe and the Rothschild giraffe, have been classified as Endangered, as wild populations of each of them number in the hundreds It has been suggested that the Nubian giraffe is the most threatened of all giraffes, it may number fewer than 250, although this estimate is uncertain. Private game reserves have contributed to the preservation of giraffe populations in southern Africa. Giraffe Manor is a popular hotel in Nairobi that also serves as sanctuary for Rothschild's giraffes. The giraffe is a protected species in most of its range. In 1999, it was estimated that over 140,000 giraffes existed in the wild, but estimates in 2010 indicated that fewer than 80,000 remain.

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July 1st, 2012

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