Well Hello There

Pastel on Pastelmat paper ($POA)

45 cm W x 55 cm H
On a lovely morning at Taronga Western Plains Zoo, Dubbo, NSW, we were fortunate to have a private tour of the Savannah where many African animals roam freely. A curious male giraffe poked his long neck (and head) into our jeep searching for treats. Both male and female giraffes have horns, but the tops of the horns on a male are almost always bald, whilst the female’s horns will be completely covered with hair. As females don’t fight, they never lose the hair on their horns.
The Giraffe is the tallest of all animals, with males sometimes growing up to 5.5 metres in height and weighing over 1000 kg! The northern giraffe (Giraffa camelopardalis), also known as the three-horned giraffe, is the species of giraffe native to North Africa. Once abundant throughout Africa since the 19th century, it is now isolated in South Sudan, Kenya, Chad and Niger. All giraffes are considered ‘Vulnerable to Extinction’ by the IUCN. There are currently only 5,195 northern giraffes in the wild.