Amazing Animals #1 The Giraffe

As the tallest mammals on earth the giraffe has legs taller than most humans at 6 ft long. The scientific name, Giraffa camelopardalis, comes from the ancient Greeks' belief that it looked like a camel wearing a leopard's coat. Speaking of coats, their spots are completely individual to each animal - just like human fingerprints. There are four species of Giraffe they are the Northern Giraffe, Southern Giraffe, Masai Giraffe and the Reticulated Girafffe. They are found in the open plains, grasslands and the savannas of Africa.

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Breeding

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Testing for fertility in Humans is a fairly non-invasive and private procedure, not so for Giraffes, Male Giraffes test the fertility of female by tasting their Urine. A Giraffes gestation period is 14-15 months or 453 -464 days usually giving birth to only one offspring at a time yet twins can occur. They have very good memory, often back to the day they were born, female giraffes regularly return to the same location they were born in order to give birth. During birth the calf falls from the standing height of the mother (Approx 6ft), despite this rough entry into the world baby giraffes are capable of standing and running within 1 hour of birth. Male calfs stay with their mothers until they reach 15 months old and join other herds of adolescent males whereas, females stay until they're a year and a half remaining with their family for life.

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How much do they eat and drink?

Giraffes are classed as browsers, using their long necks to feed on leaves, shoots and fruit of tall bushes and trees. Depending on the season will vary on which plants they eat, but acacia leaves and the shoots are their most common diet. They don’t need to drink very often as they get the majority of their water from their plant-based diet; generally they only drink from standing water every 3-5 days. Their tongues can measure up to 20 inches long and are also darkly coloured to protect them from sunlight, this is due to the fact a Giraffe will generally eat about 75kgs of food per day, on a diet of leaves this results in the Giraffe spending the majority of its day eating.

Anatomy

Due to their strange shape and large mass, Giraffes have a very specialised and complex cardiovascular system, their heart measures two feet long and can weigh up to 25lbs. Additionally, Giraffes have a series of one way valves in their necks leading to the brain, this prevents large volumes of blood flowing to the Giraffes head when they bend over to drink or graze, this means Giraffes never experience head rush. They share an unexpected trait with humans, they have exactly the same number of vertebrate in their Neck as you do, seven, the only difference being their seven vertebrates can measure up to 10 inches long each.

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More Amazing Facts

They can run at speeds of up to 35MPH making them comfortably faster than Usain Bolt, their large mass does prevent them from maintaining this speed for long distances.

Giraffes very rarely sit down or go down on their knees, they sleep only for 5-30 minutes in a 24 hour period standing up, this trait reduces the opportunity for predators to take advantage of a sleeping animal.

In order to display dominance, male giraffes will crash necks in brutal fights during an act referred to as necking, Male giraffes will do this to either impress a mate, or to claim territory.

Giraffes are considered prey animals, a pride of desperate Lions may attempt to kill a Giraffe if no easier options are available, despite being prey animals, Giraffes have incredibly powerful legs that are more than capable of fatally wounding a Lion if the kick connects in the right place, due to this Giraffes live fairly care free lives, only experiencing predation in times of drought / famine.

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Giraffes can recover moisture from the air during respiration, they achieve this by lowering the temperature of exhaled air to about 8C below their core body temperature of 38C, this also allows the Giraffe to regulate its body temperature during both hot and cold weather extremes.

Most importantly World giraffe day is June 21, where zoos and conservationists worldwide come together to spread awareness about this amazing species.

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