Photo: Giraffe Zoo Photo

A giraffe at the Auckland Zoo in New Zealand loves to pose for photos.

As you stroll through the Pridelands of the Auckland Zoo on the North Island of New Zealand be prepared to take many photos of the giraffe and his family. These long necked animals gracefully stroll through their African Grasslands habitat at the Auckland Zoo.

The giraffe is the tallest mammal in the world and capturing the whole body of the giraffe in your photos can sometimes be a difficult task. Being so tall makes it easy for the giraffe to feed off the tree tops at the Auckland Zoo.

The hair on the neck of the giraffe is 10-20 times thicker than the hair on your head and each giraffe has a unique dappled pattern on their body which is also needed for camouflage. Boths sexes of the giraffe have horns but if you look at this particular photo of the giraffe you can tell it is a male. Males can develop calcium deposits that form bumps on the top of their skulls as they age.

The giraffe ... continue below the picture...

... is a beautiful animal to watch, study and take photos of as the pace of a giraffe is very slow unless they are pursued and then their speed can pick up to about 56 kilometers and hour. The Auckland Zoo in New Zealand is an ideal place to get photos of the giraffe unless you are planning a trip to see them in the wild in Africa.

Giraffe, Garaffa camelopardalis, in the Pridelands area of the Auckland Zoo, Auckland, North Island, New Zealand.