Did You Know – Giraffe

Lacey / August 31, 2011 / No comments

Giraffes Description: The tallest animal in the world. The Giraffe gets its name from the Arabic “xirapha” meaning ‘one who walks swiftly’. Male and female: Both sexes have horns, the females turn in slightly and have tufts of hair. As bulls age the colour of their skin darkens. Life Expectancy: 20-30 years – high mortality rate among calves with many dying in their first year. Behaviour: Active during both night and day, tending to sleep during hottest parts of the day. Can move up to 50km/h. Habitat: Not dependant on water they are capable of surviving for long periods of time in waterless areas. This makes them perfectly suited to dry savannah woodland. Food: Due to their long necks Giraffes are successful browsers, they are adapted perfectly to reach vegetation above that of other browsers. They wrap their long tongues around the base of a twig and pull them to the top causing all the leaves to come off into their mouths. Social structure: Herds range from 3 to 30 individuals. Unlike smaller ungulates, adult Giraffes do not need to group so tightly for protection, this results in loose herds that do no necessarily resemble herds. Even at rest individuals may be up to 20 yds away from each other. Communication: Female giraffes socialise more than the males who associate with females only temporarily during mating. Generally silent communicating via sight, Giraffes have also been known to grunt and snort. Predators: Giraffe are preyed upon by Lions. To defend themselves they have a powerful kick which can kill a lion easily. Did you know? • Despite being so long a giraffes neck has the same amount of vertebrae as other animals - seven. • A Giraffe tongue is blue and can reach up to 45cm long!

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