Giraffes
Giraffes at Allwetterzoo Münster
Image: Hamsterkiste
1 Giraffes live in Africa
Masai giraffe cow with calf on the savanna in Zambia
Image: public domain
Giraffes live only in Africa. They are found mainly in savannas, open woodlands and scrubland south of the Sahara. They prefer areas with plenty of acacia trees because the leaves are their main food.
There are four giraffe species in all. The best known is the reticulated giraffe, with its rich brown patches. The others are the northern giraffe, Masai giraffe, and southern giraffe. Each species also has several subspecies, which differ in their coat patterns and ranges.
There are still about 90,000 to 100,000 giraffes living in the wild in Africa. Their numbers are declining because their habitat is shrinking and poachers hunt them.
Find out:
- Where are giraffes found?
- What species of giraffes are there?
2 Giraffes tower over all other animals
A giraffe reaches high up, here in a national park in Kenya
Image: public domain
Giraffes are taller than any other living creatures on Earth. They grow up to 6 m tall. Their coats are yellowish-brown with chestnut-brown spots. Giraffes have 2 or 4 short, blunt horns. They weigh 500 to 1,200 kg. Male giraffes are larger and heavier than females.
Their tongues are up to 50 cm long and dark in color. They use them to pull food from trees. Giraffes communicate using very low sounds that humans cannot hear. They have excellent eyesight. Their hearts have to work very hard. Each weighs about 12 kg and pumps 60 liters of blood around the body. Although the neck is up to 2.50 m long, like most mammals, it consists of just seven vertebrae.
Giraffes live in herds of 2 to 10 animals, led by a bull. They walk with a pacing gait, which means they move both legs on one side forward at the same time. Giraffes can run at speeds of up to 55 km/h. They can defend themselves against any predator with their powerful hooves. Predators that hunt giraffes are mainly lions, but also hyenas and leopards. These predators often attack young giraffes.
Find out:
3. How tall and heavy can giraffes get?
4. How long is the tongue?
5. How long can its neck grow?
6. How many liters of blood must a giraffe’s heart pump through its body?
7. How many neck vertebrae do giraffes have?
8. Which animals hunt giraffes?
3 Giraffe Diet
Giraffe in Zakouma National Park, Chad
Image:: Fatakaya - Own work, CC BY-SA 4.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=77359215
Giraffes feed exclusively on plants. They mainly eat leaves, buds and shoots from acacias, mimosas and other trees, and occasionally fruits or herbs. They use their long tongues to reach food even among the thorns
Drinking is difficult for giraffes. They have to spread their front legs wide and bend their necks down to reach the water. This leaves them poorly protected from predators. So they drink only occasionally and get most of their fluids from fresh leaves.
After a gestation period of around 15 months, female giraffes usually give birth to a single calf. Twins are very rare. A calf is already about 1.8 metres tall at birth and can stand and walk after just a few hours.
In some parts of Africa, giraffe meat is eaten, even though the animals are now protected in many places. But poachers ignore the rules. Because of their size, giraffes provide a lot of meat at once.
Find out:
9. What do giraffes eat?
10. What kind of shelter do they drink from?
11. How tall is a young giraffe at birth?
12. Why do poachers kill giraffes?