Gerenuk Balance & Browse Lab — 2D Rearing Mechanics

This 2D companion turns the 3D gerenuk scene's balance-and-posture theme into a readable side profile: each gerenuk grazes low shoots for free at any time, but the tallest, least-picked-over acacia canopy sits above standing reach and only pays off if the animal rears onto its hind legs. Rearing carries a real balance check — the higher the canopy above standing height and the lower the herd's rearing-balance skill, the more likely a gerenuk wobbles and loses the attempt rather than feeding, which the simulation resolves as an explicit success/fail roll rather than a scripted animation. A browse-selectivity slider decides how far an animal is willing to walk past a nearer, lower-value bush for a richer one; a dry-season slider throttles how fast bushes regrow and caps how much nutrition even a healthy-looking bush can hold. A live panel tracks cumulative feeding events, the herd's average energy reserve, and how many rearing attempts ended in a fall — the same trade-off the 3D version animates in a rendered scene, here reduced to legible numbers and a side-on view.