Giraffe | Facts & Information

Habitat: savannas, grasslands and open areas

Native to Africa, the giraffe is related to the families Cervidae and Bovidae, but belongs to another family, Giraffidae, which includes only the giraffe and its closest relative okapi.

Giraffe Feed

The diet of the giraffe is in accordance with the physique; it eats the leaves of the trees using its tongue. Those living in Southern Africa prefer branches and leaves that have thorns.

When eating fresh and juicy food they can stay for a long time without water, but in the era of drought they travel many kilometers to drink water from lakes or puddles.

The giraffe's favorite food is Acacia, a species of tree that grows in the Savannah, it is an animal that chooses food a lot when it can choose.

But if the need requires it, it has no trouble adapting to other foods. It also consumes other species of trees and grass. To drink or eat grass, the giraffe must bend over and sit in a vulnerable position.

The giraffe's tongue and digestive system are adapted to digest plants with thorns, which they digest without any type of problems. Giraffes spend 16-20 hours a day feeding themselves and if they have cubs, they can also do it during the hottest period of the day when the prey animals are inactive.

It can also eat 65 kg of vegetables. The giraffe, like the cow, is a ruminant animal, has 4 stomachs and digestion is similar to other ruminants (digestion takes a long time).

Giraffe Appearance

Giraffes are famous for their extremely long neck (which allows them to reach the tallest and most tender leaves in trees) and forelegs that are longer and larger than their hind legs.

The bone structure of the neck is no different from that of other mammals, with no extra vertebrae, but each of the seven bones is longer. In addition it has small horns covered with skin (ossicorne).

There are many specific changes in the structure of the giraffe that have evolved in comparison to other mammals, especially the circulatory system.

The giraffe's heart needs to pump blood pressure almost double that of many other large mammals to maintain normal blood flow.

In the upper part of the giraffe's neck, there is a complex system of regulating blood pressure that prevents its excess when the giraffe lowers its head to drink.

The blood vessels in the lower leg are under a lot of pressure. The giraffe has a thick and tight skin on the lower extremities of the legs, which maintains high extravascular pressure, resembling the suit of a supersonic airplane pilot.

Most of the sounds the giraffe emits through its enormous lungs cannot be heard by the human ear, as giraffes communicate with each other through infrasound.

The black tongue, very long (about 45 cm), allows him to clean his ears. It has two horns and a bony crest due to excessive development of the frontal and nasal bones.

The mouth is different from that of other ruminants, the upper lip is not cut like in camels, it has a sharper shape. It has a system that allows it to open and close the nasal passages voluntarily, protecting them from dust.

The fur is yellow in color with darker or lighter spots, the spots on the neck or legs are smaller.

Giraffes live in groups of 20-30 specimens, in youth, in old age they seek solitude.

Giraffe Behavior

Giraffe is an animal that is not sedentary and that lives in groups of 15-20 due to the inconsistency and lack of help between them.

Giraffes are shy animals, they prefer to run before facing danger, mainly to avoid Lions; if they see themselves surrounded or when their young are threatened, giraffes fight, especially kicking (due to their size these blows can be deadly or cause serious injuries).

Due to its height, the giraffe has an extremely large field of vision, with which it can quickly detect any threat. When running, the giraffe is a very agile animal, able to reach up to 60 km per hour.

The males also face each other. Giraffes, contrary to what most people think, rely on a communication system similar to that of cows, a system by which they notify their impending dangers and locate their young.

Giraffe Breeding

The giraffe's gestation period is between 14 and 15 months; it gives birth to a single cub. The giraffe gives birth standing and the embryo sac does not break when the fetus falls to the ground. Newborn giraffes measure 1.8 m.

A few hours after birth , the baby giraffe can run and is no different from the one that is one week old. However, for the first two weeks they stay mostly seated and guarded by their mother.

Adult giraffes are too large for most carnivores, but younger specimens can be attacked by most carnivores : lions, leopards, hyenas and wild dogs. The pup becomes independent after 18 months.

Only 25-50% of them will become adults, with an average life of 20 and 25 years.

Giraffe puppies are more sociable than adults, they play and spend a lot of time together. Their problem is Predators – giraffe Cubs are smaller in height than adults and are therefore frequently attacked by lions, hyenas and other wild animals that in principle would not dare attack an adult giraffe.

When the Cubs are born, they weigh around 50 kg and measure less than 2 m tall. They feed on breast milk until they are 16 months old.

Mothers always stay close to their young to protect them from predators, but leave them free when they start to grow. The other giraffes also take care of the Cubs of the others in the group if they have moved away too soon for some reason.