What is a giraffe?

Giraffes are the tallest mammals in the world, thanks to their tall legs and long necks. Giraffes legs stand has tall as we do! A giraffe’s 6 foot neck weighs about 600 pounds!

Giraffes have a small hump on their backs and have a spotted pattern similar to a leopard.

For a long time people called a giraffe a “camel-leopard”, because they believed that it was a combination of a camel and a leopard.

Where do giraffes live?

Giraffes live in the Savanna, in the sub-saharan regions of Africa. They live around where there are acacia trees, and their long necks allow them to eat leaves from these trees.

How giraffes grow so tall?

Baby giraffes are two meters tall when they are born, they are even taller than humans. They will grow to 4 to 6 meters by the time when they are four years old!

Scientists have many explanations about why giraffes are so tall. First, giraffes are so tall so they can eat from trees easily. Another explanation is female giraffes like tall male giraffes. Third, they can see predators from far if they have long necks.

How can giraffes have such long necks? The giraffes necks has seven bones, just like us. But each of them is 25cm long.

How do giraffes drink?

Adult giraffes sometimes drink only once a day because they get water from food. They can even go out with not even one bit of water for a few weeks.

It is difficult for giraffes to drink because first, they don’t sit, they don’t lie and squat. They only stand. Their legs are so long that they can’t reach the water by bending the neck only.

Giraffes drink by opening their legs wide open and bending down their neck so they can reach the water. But lions and crocodiles can attack them while drinking.

How can the water get up the neck? Getting water up their necks can not be easy. In 2016 Philippe Binder a scientist discovered that giraffes drink by clenching its lips, and pumping its jaws so the water is pushed up the throat. Then the giraffes lifts its neck so the water goes down to the stomach.

Other cool things about giraffes

The giraffe’s heart is 0.6 meters long and it weighs 25 pounds. The lungs can hold 12 liters of air. The stomach has four sections. The giraffe eats 34 kilograms of food for a day.

Other cool numbers about giraffes. Giraffes can run as fast as a car because they can run 34.7 miles for an hour. Giraffes only need 5 to 30 minutes of sleep a day, they spent rest of the time eating.

Giraffes don’t need to hide from predators because they are very big. If they need to hide, their fury coat can blend in with leaves, shadows or a tight group of giraffes.

Glossary

• Africa: a continent South of Europe and between the Alantic and Indian oceans.
• Clench: to close tightly
• Mammal: an animal that has hair, gives milk and gives birth to babys.
• Sahara: a desert in north Africa.
• Savanna: grassland region with scattered trees.