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Photo: Giraffe in the Kalahari

I love this photo because it shows a rather unusual perspective of the world’s tallest animal, the giraffe. Instead of focusing on the animal’s incredibly long neck, I tried to accentuate it’s other amazing adaptation: the ridiculously long legs.

Even though a giraffe’s neck is quite long, it can’t reach the ground without spreading its front legs as wide as possible. This means that taking a drink or picking up food from the ground is a serious pain in the neck.

An unusual perspective of a browsing giraffe in the Kalahari
An unusual perspective of a browsing giraffe in the Kalahari

I had a rare opportunity to spend some quality time with this very tame giraffe in Botswana’s Kalahari Desert when we stayed at Kalahari Rest. Though it is a wild giraffe and roams freely, it was orphaned at a young age and was raised by the staff. Now it eagerly follows visitors around hoping for a handout of apple. On this particular morning “Josh” was hunting for fuzzy seed pods on the ground and allowed me to take many extreme closeups in strange positions. In this self portrait below, both Josh and I are looking down into my camera which is pointed at the sky. I have to admit, it was some of the most fun I’ve ever had photographing an animal.

Self portrait, Hal Brindley and Josh the Giraffe, Kalahari Dessert Botswana
Self portrait, Hal Brindley and Josh the Giraffe, Kalahari Dessert Botswana
Hal Brindley at the Antarctic Circle

Hal Brindley

Brindley is an American conservation biologist, wildlife photographer, filmmaker, writer, and illustrator living in Asheville, NC. He studied black-footed cats in Namibia for his master’s research, has traveled to all seven continents, and loves native plant gardening. See more of his work at Travel for Wildlife, Truly Wild, Our Wild Yard, & Naturalist Studio.

Alexandra

Sunday 1st of December 2013

HOW COOL! I've always wanted a pet giraffe. Looks like you had one for the day ;) I'm super jealous

Cristina Garcia

Sunday 1st of December 2013

He was so much fun!

Barbara Weibel

Monday 18th of March 2013

Got a great chuckle from the different perspectives of these giraffe photos!

Cristina Garcia

Wednesday 20th of March 2013

They are pretty hilarious Barbara!

wandering educators

Saturday 16th of March 2013

love these photos! WOW!!

Hal Brindley

Saturday 16th of March 2013

Thanks Jessie!

Turtle

Saturday 16th of March 2013

Wow - amazing shot! It took me a few seconds to work out what it was and which angle it was coming from!

Hal Brindley

Saturday 16th of March 2013

Yeah, pretty strange angle huh? I took all sorts of goofy shots with this guy. Some of the weirdest were looking directly up at his belly from the ground. Definitely a fun opportunity.