What sort of noise doz a giraffe make?

Answer 1

I work with giraffes so I can tell you that they rarely make any noise, they are generally thought to be mute however they are not, they are capable of making sound.
Giraffes can utter low moans and grunts, which they normally only do when in distress, for example when claving or seperated from their maternal herd.
There is also now a body of work to suggest that Giraffes communicate at a level unable to be heard by Humans, although this is yet to be proven.
I hope this helps.

Answer 2

i became into inspired by skill of Steve's answer, debunking yet yet another of my long-held ideals, that giraffes have no larynges and can't subsequently make a noise. regardless of the incontrovertible fact that!! i desperate to accomplish a little investigationj of my own and got here across in this text. The gist of it is going : giraffes have voiceboxes, yet won't be able to get adequate airflow to make greater beneficial than a quiet bleat. '-._.-^-._.-^-._.-^-._.-^-._.-^-._.-^-... Biomechanics of the giraffe larynx and trachea. regardless of possession of a properly evolved larynx and a gregarious nature, the Giraffe is able to utter in basic terms low moans or bleats. Morphological and histological examination, alongside with measurements of trachea and subglottic section, on 3 sparkling larynges (Giraffa camelopardalis) has made it available to describe the shortcoming of vocal ability. aspects which incorporate thoracic expiratory circulate value, length of trachea and recurrent laryngeal nerves, alongside with morphological information of vocal folds, and intrinsic laryngeal muscle groups have all been seen, offering a different occasion of the courting between morphology and overall performance interior the mammalial larynx.

Answer 3

Dear Etienne,

I was curious about giraffes too! I have never heard one make a sound. So I checked with the Montgomery zoo, and the veterinarian said that although giraffes are very quiet animals, they do on occasion make a quiet "bleating" sound, like a young calf or sheep.

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For centuries, biologists believed giraffes were the mute giants of Africa's plains and forests -- silent sentinels gazing to the horizon. In recent years, however, new techniques and technologies have allowed scientists to listen more carefully -- and realize that giraffes may be talking after all. Just not in a way that we can hear.

Over the last few decades, biologists using special microphones, recording equipment, and computer analysis programs have realized that whales, elephants, and some other animals were using extremely low-frequency sounds -- far below the range of human ears -- to communicate.

These low-pitched sounds are known as "infrasound," and they have at least one remarkable property: they can travel farther than higher-pitched noises through the air and earth. Such long-distance communication is a must for animals, such as giraffes or elephants, that can be spread over vast territories. Elephants, for instance, may be able to communicate with other animals up to several miles away.


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Elizabeth von Muggenthaler
uses microphones and
computerized analysis
systems to study infrasound.

Studying infrasound, however, is difficult. In part, that's because so many things produce infrasound, from rumbling earthquakes and thunder storms to trains and cars. Sorting out wild sounds from the background noise can be nearly impossible. But by doing studies in zoos, where researchers can partly control experiments, scientists have been able to document the existence of infrasound and show that animals appear to be using it to communicate.

TALL BLONDES documents the work of one of these sound scientists. In 1998, Elizabeth von Muggenthaler of the Fauna Communications Research Institute in North Carolina and a group of colleagues announced that they had found evidence that giraffes use infrasound to communicate. In part, Muggenthaler had taken on the study -- done on 11 giraffes at 2 zoos in North and South Carolina -- because she had studied the use of infrasound by the Okapi, a relative of the giraffe. It would be natural, she thought, for the giraffe, which shares many behaviors with the Okapi, to also share the use of low sounds.

In their zoo study, the researchers noticed that the low sounds picked up by their microphones seemed to coincide with two behaviors: the "neck stretch," where giraffes throw their head and necks back over their bodies; and the "head throw," in which the animals lower and then quickly raise their chins. How exactly giraffes make the low, huffing noises is unclear, however. The researchers think the answer lies in studying how air moves through the giraffe's long neck.

In a recent interview, Muggenthaler discussed her work trying to listen to the unhearable:

NATURE: Sounds like you've got a tough job.

Elizabeth von Muggenthaler: It is a such a hard thing to do. You can't hear infrasound, so you are relying totally on your microphones and computerized analysis systems to detect it. Then, there are so many other things that create infrasound -- from water and wind to cars and trains -- that you have to be able to eliminate what you don't want. The environment has to be very good where you are recording. It's hard to do in the field.

NATURE: What tipped you off that giraffes might be using infrasound?

EVM: Well, here is an animal that is very social, they hide in forests [making visual communication difficult], and they hide their young during the day while foraging. They are hunted by other animals. But they were considered mute. Right there is your clue -- there are no animals [that have such behaviors] that are mute. They wouldn't survive if they couldn't communicate.

Also, if you look at giraffes' ears, you know something is going on. Their ears are like parabolas and they have [features] that suggest they can tune in on sounds.

NATURE: What would it take to study the giraffe's use of infrasound in the wild?

EVM: Well, you would really need an array of microphones, so you'd be able to detect if it's the giraffe or not. It would be a very expensive study.

NATURE: How did you get interested in infrasound?

EVM: It's just that we humans are so limited. I knew I wanted to study animal communication [in college] and I liked the elephant [infrasound] studies [that other scientists had done]. So I tried to replicate that and ended up at NASA, renting equipment. It was while I was recording the elephants that I got the rhinos. [Editor's note: In 1992, Muggenthaler documented the use of infrasound by rhinos.] It's just that there is this world of crazy stuff going on with sound. There is this unseen world out there, and I want people to know it exists.

Answer 4

Giraffes are thought to be mute; however, although generally quiet, they have been heard to grunt, snort and bleat and also recent research has shown evidence that the animal communicates at an infrasound level

Answer 5

if you watch south park bigger long uncut the movie you will hear somebody, a french child if i recall, do an impression of a giraffe sadly i dont know how to spell the noise something like mwah mwaaah

Answer 6

Nobody knows , it's too high up to hear !!

Answer 7

Moo??

Answer 8

Great question...
I have no idea.

Answer 9

it kinda goes, "boo david boo"

Answer 10

lol no clue.