For a giraffe, drinking is as necessary as it is for any other mammal.
The very act of positioning oneself to make drinking physically possible is, however, an enormously more delicate, demanding task for a giraffe than for other mammals.
Giraffes’ approach to a waterhole is always slow, tentative, hesitant…and in a group.
Anxiety and hyper vigilance are especially evident at the crucial moment when a giraffe has to decide that it is now “safe” – or not – to get into drinking position.
Giraffes are acutely aware that if they are to be “taken” by a predator, “drinking time” is the time.
Having sated their thirst and resumed an upright stance, giraffes become very much more relaxed as they depart the watering point…as you can see, above.
Photo is copyright Doug Spencer, taken at 3.16 pm on 06 November 2022 in Etosha National Park, northern Namibia.