Did you know that some herbivores occasionally chew on bones in order to obtain calcium? This behaviour is known as Osteophagia. One animal in particular seen displaying this behaviour is the giraffe – the giraffe chews intently on the bone while throwing its head back. This behaviour often occurs during the winter months when elements as calcium and phosphorus are not readily available in their normal plant fibre diet – so they resort to this alternate resource to complement their intake. They do not however ingest whole bones but simply drop them once they have had enough or become bored/tired.
