Giraffes
What do you already know about Giraffes?
Giraffes are the tallest mammal that walks on the land and can grow to be about five metres tall. They have a very long neck, which can be about two metres in length when they are fully grown, long legs and a long tail! They have quite a small head in comparison to the rest of their body and small horn like structures called ossicones on the top of their head. Giraffes have the biggest heart of all land mammals. Their heart has to be so big to get the blood pumping all the way up its neck to its head! Giraffes are a pale brown, yellowish colour with brown patches all over their body. The pattern on a giraffe and colouring can be very different making it easier to identify different species and even individual giraffes.
Giraffes live in the continent of Africa and no where else. They can be mainly found living in huge grassland habitats, roaming the big open spaces in search of trees that they can eat from. Their favourite is the acacia tree.
A Masai species of giraffe living in its natural habitat in Kenya, Africa.
A tower of giraffes living in their natural habit - can see them all amongst the trees?
A Mum looking after her calf.
A baby giraffe, is almost 2 metres tall at birth and can walk within an hour of being born but still needs the protection of their mum for around two years.
A giraffe bending to reach the ground for a drink.
There are four species of giraffes, the Northern Giraffe, the Southern Giraffe, the Reticulated Giraffe and the Masai Giraffe. These four species are then split again into nine subspecies!
The main difference between them is the colour and patterns on their skin. The different subspecies can be found living in different places in Africa.
Giraffes as a whole species are listed as vulnerable, one level below endangered. However, some subspecies are in more trouble than others.
The number of giraffes have dropped in the wild quite a lot and there are some people that are worried that they should be classed as an endangered species overall so more can be done to protect them from extinction.
A group of giraffes is called a tower. Sometimes a group is also called a journey, this describes a group of giraffe moving around, which they do a lot! Giraffes are social animals and like to be in groups with other giraffes but they won’t necessarily stay together with the same giraffes all the time and the members of the group can change. Giraffes are very quiet animals but its been discovered they make more noise than we realised, its just we can’t hear it! Giraffes do communicate with each other, especially at night but at such a low frequency that humans can’t tune in to it!
Female giraffes will look after their babies, called calves, and the tower will also look after them collectively and protect them from predators.
Not too many animals will try to attack an adult giraffe, although lions are their main predator. Animals such as African wild dogs, leopards, hyenas and crocodiles would try to and attack the smaller, younger giraffes though. Adult giraffes will work together to protect a calf in their tower. If a lion or another predator got too close they are at risk of being kicked by the giraffes, which would hurt, a lot. In fact one kick from a giraffe could actually kill a lion!
Giraffes are surprisingly fast when they need to be, like when they might need to get away from a predator. They can actually run at about 35 miles an hour in short bursts. Can you imagine seeing a giraffe running that fast!
Giraffes use their tongue to pull leaves from tree branches to eat.
Close up of a giraffes tongue.
A giraffe eating from the top of a tree.
Giraffes are herbivores, which means they only eat plants. They like to eat the leaves off the top of trees that other animals can’t reach. They spend most of the day eating, ripping leaves off branches with their tongue. Their tongue is about 45 – 50 cm long to make this possible. About half of their tongue is a dark blue purple colour to protect it from the sun, otherwise it might get sunburnt.
To drink water they spread out their front legs so they can get lower down and then bend their neck down towards the ground. They don’t drink a lot of water though, as they get most of the liquid they need from the leaves they eat, so they only need to this every few days.
Giraffes have the least amount of sleep of any mammals, surviving off around 30 minutes a day in short bursts. They often sleep standing up but if they do want to rest properly they usually bend their front legs underneath them and then rest their neck and head down.
What we've learnt...
Giraffes are the tallest land mammals on Earth.
Giraffes live in Africa in grassland habitats.
There are 4 species of giraffe. Different species of giraffe have different patterns.
Giraffes are herbivores and eat leaves and twigs from the tops of trees.
Giraffes live in groups called towers.
Test your knowledge...
Giraffes Quiz
If you click the correct answer the box will turn green. If its the wrong answer it will turn red and then show you what the correct answer was. Some questions have more than one answer, so read or listen to the questions carefully!
#1. How fast can giraffes run?
#2. What is a group of giraffes called?
#3. Choose the two animals that are predators to giraffes
Select all that apply:
#4. What is a baby giraffe called?
#5. Where do giraffes live in the wild?
Results
I really hope you have enjoyed learning all about Giraffes, with me Flash!
Question Time...
Is it true giraffes have the same number of bones in their neck as us?
by Theo
Yes it is! Giraffes have incredibly long necks but like virtually all mammals, including humans down to tiny mice, they have 7 neck bones. The only difference is a giraffes neck bones are much longer than ours!
Why do giraffes sleep standing up? And how do they do it?
by Kimora
Giraffes tend to sleep standing up because sitting down makes them much more vulnerable to being attacked by a predator. They can not get up quickly! They also sleep for very short amounts of time for the same reason. Giraffes living in zoos or safari parks tend to sleep for longer as they feel safer than out in the wild.
Giraffes can lock their long legs into a special joint position so they feel secure enough to take a few minutes to rest. Their knees lock into place to stop them moving or falling over while they are asleep.
Can giraffes stand on their back legs like some dinosaurs used to?
by James
Good question! Giraffes can’t stand up on their back legs to get up any higher. They always have to use all four legs for balance or they might fall over!
Do giraffes eat anything but leaves?
by Leon
They do actually, although acacia leaves are their favourite, they do also eat twigs, shoots, flowers and fruit. Interestingly they also chew on tree bark and old animal bones to absorb minerals like calcium!
Any other questions?
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All photos and illustrations on this page are Whizzbots or Public Domain Images.