Masai giraffe in Tanzania, January 2018
Southern giraffe, northern Botswana, 2012
Reticulated giraffe, Kenya, 2011
All giraffes have horns, regardless of species, gender or age. Their real name is ossicone, a bony horn covered with hair. The females have slender ossicones, with tufty hair, whist the males’ ossicones are chunkier and are usually bald on top. The youngsters are born with flattened horns, that aren’t actually attached to their skulls, but that physical connection develops as they age.
Copyright Debbie Smyth, 7 February 2019
Posted as part of Cee’s B&W
Travel with Intent 
Stunning photographs, they are such beautiful creatures but also so bizarre!
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I really like these, they translated well to black and white. I shared a link here on Twitter.
Have a nice weekend, Amy
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Yes, b&w worked well on the strong patterns. And shows off how much the patterns vary between species.
And thanks for the link, Amy
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I never really thought of them as horns. So interesting…and great pics!
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On the females of some species they look more like extra ears!
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Now I want to go to the zoo to see the giraffe!
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They are beautiful aren’t they, and such a fascinating build. Tall and leggy, to the extreme.
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Wonderful giraffe photos. I love their horns too!!! 😀
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Wow! Those eyelashes…
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There’s something so endearing about them, isn’t there? Gorgeous photos, Debs! 🙂 🙂
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Beautiful photos; they work so well in b&w.
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Such a wonderful creature. So elegant and clumsy looking at the same time.
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Well, learnt something else today….
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