The Masai Giraffe or Maasai Giraffe, also known as the Kilimanjaro Giraffe (Giraffa camelopardalis tippelskirchi) is the largest subspecies

Subspecies

Subspecies in biological classification, is either a taxonomic rank subordinate to species, ora taxonomic unit in that rank . A subspecies cannot be recognized in isolation: a species will either be recognized as having no subspecies at all or two or more, never just one...

 of giraffe

Giraffe

The giraffe is an African even-toed ungulate mammal, the tallest of all extant land-living animal species, and the largest ruminant...

 and the tallest land mammal. It is found in Kenya

Kenya

Kenya , officially known as the Republic of Kenya, is a country in East Africa that lies on the equator, with the Indian Ocean to its south-east...

 and Tanzania

Tanzania

The United Republic of Tanzania is a country in East Africa bordered by Kenya and Uganda to the north, Rwanda, Burundi, and the Democratic Republic of the Congo to the west, and Zambia, Malawi, and Mozambique to the south. The country's eastern borders lie on the Indian Ocean.Tanzania is a state...

.

Description

The Masai Giraffe has jagged spots on it's body. It also has a short tassel of hair on its tail. Giraffes do not have true horns, the bony outgrowths on the top of their heads are instead called "ossicones". True horns have a bony core surrounded by a protein layer called keratin (the same substance our fingernails are made from). In contrast, an ossicone is a bony growth covered with a thin layer of skin

Skin

-Dermis:The dermis is the layer of skin beneath the epidermis that consists of connective tissue and cushions the body from stress and strain. The dermis is tightly connected to the epidermis by a basement membrane. It also harbors many Mechanoreceptors that provide the sense of touch and heat...

. The bony outgrowths of the male's skull superficially provide the appearance of up to 5 ossicones. The dominant male's spots tend to be darker in colour than those of other members of its herd.
Adult males usually reach around 6 m in height—although they have been recorded at reaching heights of up to approximately 6.5 m—and females tend to be a bit shorter at around 5–5.5 m tall. Their legs and necks are both approximately 2 m long, and their heart has a mass of roughly 12 kg (25 lb).

Behaviour

There is no seasonal breeding season for the Maasai Giraffe, and females can get pregnant from the age of 4. They also give birth standing up. It takes 2–6 hours for a giraffe to be born. About 50–75% of the calves die in their first few months due to predation

Predation

In ecology, predation describes a biological interaction where a predator feeds on its prey . Predators may or may not kill their prey prior to feeding on them, but the act of predation always results in the death of its prey and the eventual absorption of the prey's tissue through consumption...

. Even though many calves die, the mother will try to stab predators such as hyena

Hyena

Hyenas or Hyaenas are the animals of the family Hyaenidae of suborder feliforms of the Carnivora. It is the fourth smallest biological family in the Carnivora , and one of the smallest in the mammalia...

s or lion

Lion

The lion is one of the four big cats in the genus Panthera, and a member of the family Felidae. With some males exceeding 250 kg in weight, it is the second-largest living cat after the tiger...

s with its sharp hooves

Hoof

A hoof , plural hooves or hoofs , is the tip of a toe of an ungulate mammal, strengthened by a thick horny covering. The hoof consists of a hard or rubbery sole, and a hard wall formed by a thick nail rolled around the tip of the toe. The weight of the animal is normally borne by both the sole...

. This action may injure or kill a predator quickly; the Maasai Giraffe's kick is strong enough to crush a lion's skull or shatter its spine.