Giraffe – Beautiful tallest animal in the world

Giraffe – Beautiful tallest animal in the world

Giraffes are the world’s tallest mammals in the world. Their legs alone are taller than many humans about 6 feets. Giraffes can run as fast as 35 miles per hour over short distances, or cruise at 10 mph over longer distances. Giraffes use their height to good advantage and browse on leaves and buds in treetops. The giraffe ‘s tongue is long       ( 21 inches) helps them pluck tasty morsels from branches. Giraffes eat most of the time. The Giraffe’s height helps into keep a sharp lookout for predators across the wide expanse of the African savanna. 

Giraffes have beautiful spotted coats. While no two individuals have exactly the same pattern. Like a human fingerprint, each giraffe’s coat is unique. Their coat colors vary from white to light tan to nearly black, depending on what they eat and where they live. All giraffes have two hair-covered horns called ossicones.

 Male giraffes use their horns to playfully fight with one another. They also spar by swinging their heads at one another and entwining their necks, which is called “ necking’’. Giraffes can go for r a long time with out drinking water because their diet like camels. Giraffes are herbivores, and they eat leaves, buds and branches from mimosa and acacia trees. 

A giraffe may eat more than 35 kg’s of food each day. Giraffes are ruminants. Giraffes neck is too short to reach the ground. As a result, it has to awkwardly spead its front legs or kneel to reach the ground for a drink of water. Giraffes can breed anytime throughout the year. Females give birth to a single calf about 14 months after they mate. Female giraffes give birth standing up. Their young falls more than 5 feet to the ground at birth. Giraffes learn to stand just in 30 minutes after birth and can run with their mothers just 10 hours after birth. 

Giraffes feet are the size of a dinner plate approx. 12 inches across. Female giraffes use their hooves as weapons to protect their young. They are strong enough to kill a lion, the giraffe’s only predator aside from humans. Giraffes spend most of their lives standing up, the even sleep and give birth standing up. Giraffes only spend between 10 minutes and two hours asleep per day. They have one of the short sleep requirements of any mammal. 

Giraffes are sociable, peaceful animals which rarely fight. Males do perform a behaviour called ‘’ necking’’ where they will hit necks. The name Giraffe Camelopardalis  means ‘’ one who walks quickly’’ a camel marked like a leopard. The age of a giraffe can be calculated from its spots. The darker the spots, the older the giraffe. Giraffes life span is about 25 years.