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- Giraffes are found in the dry savannahs of Africa, where they roam among the open plains and woodlands.
- Well known for their long necks, these gentle giants are the world’s tallest living land animals. An adult male can grow to around 5.5m – that’s taller than three adult humans!
- A giraffe’s height is helpful for keeping a look out for predators, such as lions and hyenas. Their excellent eyesight allows them to spot hungry beasts from far away, too.
- Herbivores, giraffes only eat plants. Their favourite grub is the acacia tree, and they use their long necks to reach the leaves and buds in the treetops.
Wild giraffes live only in Africa, but you can see them at the zoo. All About Giraffes – the tallest mammals. Their legs are 6 feet long and so are their necks. Giraffes have only two predators, besides humans , crocodiles and lions. Giraffes are most vulnerable when they are taking a drink at a watering hole.
- Where Do Giraffes Live?
- What Do They Eat and Drink?
- How Tall Are Giraffes?
- Giraffe Neck
- Giraffe Tongue
- Giraffe Heart
- Giraffe Hooves
- Giraffe Horns
- Giraffe Calf
- Giraffe Defenses
Giraffes like to live in very dry climates! You can find them in savannas, grasslands, and open forests. Since giraffes are native to Africa, a very hot and dry place, they can definitely take the heat!
Giraffes like to roam and browse for their food, with Acacia leaves and shoots making up the bulk of their diet. They also enjoy leaves, herbs, and vines. Despite popular belief, most giraffes do not eat very much grass. Giraffes do, however, spend a lot of their time eating in general and can consume a whopping 100 lb of twigs and leaves a day. it...
As we mentioned, the giraffe is the tallest type of mammal in the entire world. Do you realize how many tall mammals there are? Yet the giraffe outgrows them all! A male giraffe can grow up to 18 feet (5.5 meters), while a female giraffe can grow up to 14 feet (4.3 meters). The legs of a giraffe average about six feet (1.8 meters) – that’s actually...
The Giraffe has a very long neck that can stretch over 7 feet long, which is nearly half it’s overall height. The long neck gives the Giraffe a slender appearance, even though the rest of its body is muscular and strong. Giraffes, like humans, have 7 vertebrae in the neck.
Giraffes have long tongues that can grow over 50 cm. They use these massive tongues to pull down leaves efficiently. Their tongue is a peculiar bluish black and purple color. Many think that this dark pigmentation is to protect their tongue from the Sun while they munch leaves from the top of the trees.
Compared to the human heart that weighs just 0.7 lb , the Giraffe’s heart is truly massive and weighs as much as 25 lb. Giraffe’s heart is the second heaviest of all land animals, just after the elephant. For sheer size, it is the biggest, and no other land animal has such large heart size, not even the elephant. Their heart pumps 60 liters of bloo...
With hooves (30 cm) the size of a dinner plate, they are able to maintain balance despite their great height. Their massive legs, strong foot and big hooves make for a powerful kick. They can and have killed lions with a single kick, yes! just one kick! Those wide hooves also keeps them from sinking into loose sands.
Both male and female giraffes have two horns on their head. These horns are called ossicones and many males giraffes have thicker, less hairy ossicones than female giraffes. This is due to the sparring they do with other male giraffes.
Female Giraffe’s stand and give birth to baby giraffes. What this means is babies get the 1.8 meter drop at birth – aahh! Baby giraffes are already big at birth. Young giraffes weight 100 lb and are close to 2m tall right after birth. Giraffe babies are called calves, and they live with their mother till they are 1.5-2 years old. They mature at 4 y...
Adult male Giraffes are large and imposing. A single lion or hyena is no match. It would take a full pride of lions to take one down, and even then many such attempts are unsuccessful. The Giraffe uses its height and excellent eyesight to spot predators like lions and hyenas from far. Giraffe’s mass and legs also work as defenses, they can stomp an...
- Giraffes are the tallest land animals on Earth. With an average height of 5 meters, giraffes are just slightly shorter than a two-storied building, making them the tallest land animals on Earth!
- Giraffes aren’t just tall; they’re quite heavy as well! For an animal to be as tall as the giraffes, they have to have a huge body mass to support themselves as well.
- There are four living species of giraffes in the world. While the family of giraffes was quite diverse once upon a time, today, only four species remain in the world (with some of them having their own subspecies).
- The Masai Giraffes are the largest of all giraffe species. Also referred to as the Kilimanjaro Giraffe, the Masai Giraffes (Giraffa tippelskirchi) are the largest of all living giraffe species today.
Giraffes grow about 4 feet (1.2 meters) in their first year of life. A newborn giraffe is about 6 feet (1.9 meters) tall at birth and weighs about 150 pounds (68 kilograms). Many young giraffes, called calves, die from lion attacks during their first year of life. Once a giraffe reaches adulthood its height is often enough to protect it from lions. Adult giraffes, however, must still be ...
Feb 20, 2024 · Quick facts for kids. The giraffe is a large African hoofed mammal belonging to the genus Giraffa. It is the tallest living terrestrial animal and the largest ruminant on Earth. Traditionally, giraffes have been thought of as one species, Giraffa camelopardalis, with nine subspecies.
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