Giraffe

Habitat

Giraffe mostly live in South Africa. Because there are savannas, open woodlands, and grasslands there. They live in the savannas is because it has all the things need which is the food they eat. It's the same thing for open woodlands and grasslands too. They also live there to stay away from predator.

Diet

Giraffes are herbivore so they don't eat other animals. They eat acacia leaves from acacia trees. They can eat 29 kilograms of acacia leaves daily but normally they would just eat as much as they can per a day. But when they can't find acacia leaves they would find fruit and grass to eat. Because that is the next thing they like to eat.

Communication

Giraffes are normally silent and don't touch each other much. Humans can't hear if they do talk and mostly they use their big brown eyes too. They can show many emotions with their eyes. For example they have a type of stare for danger so they would stare at each other to warn them that there is danger around them.

Predators

Giraffes are very large animals and the only animal able to take them down are lions and only if they work as a team. But this isn't very common because a giraffes kick can kill a lion and they prefer to stay away from their prey. Hyenas and leopards like to hunt for baby giraffes when the adult goes looking for food. But normally they are very protective. Crocodiles normally sneak up from the water on them while they are drinking water but normally the giraffe ends up running away as fast as it could.

Behavior

Giraffes are very social animals. They don't show much of their behavior. They travel in large herds that are organized by gender or age. But it is mostly organized by gender because males can do some dangerous things that female can't do.

Fun facts

Giraffes can run 37 miles a day or more. Their heart is 2 ft long and weighs about 25 lbs. They can drink 10 gallons of water per a day. They have more than one stomach they actually have 4 stomachs. Their neck is shorter than their legs. The giraffe uses its front legs mostly when it runs.

Appearance

Giraffes have a unique appearance. They have small little horns called ossicones. One giraffe can have 2-5 ossicones on their head. They also have a long tongue. It is black and it can be 17-21 ina long. It uses its tongue to grasp the leaves. Giraffes have a long neck. It takes up half the height of a giraffe. It is 5-7 ft long. It has 7 bones in his neck. They have a long tail too. Their tail is 8 ft long which is longer than any other animal tail.

Necking

Male giraffes use their necks as weapons in combat. Necking is used to establish dominance and males that win have greater reproductive success. This occurs at low intensity or high intensity. In low intensity necking, they rub and lean against each other. The male can hold itself longer on the other male wins. In high intensity they will spread their front legs and swing their neck at each other. The babies and the females are separated so they won't do necking.

Threats

People from Africa hunt for their coat and tail. They hunt their coat is to make clothes and sell them. They hunt their tail is because they need to cut it off to make good luck bracelets which is a threat to them. They also destroy their habitat to make the habitat a place for buildings. Which makes their population lower.

Height/Weight

An average female giraffe can be 16-17 ft tall. But males are normally taller they are 18-19 ft tall. The tallest giraffe in the world is 20 ft tall. An average female giraffe weight is 1829 pounds. But males are heavier so they are 2645 pounds. Giraffe are really heavy because it eats a lot.

Life Span

An average giraffe can live 20-25 years. Unless they aren't healthy. They can also live this long is because of their size, eyesight, and powerful kicks. The longest living giraffe was 28 years because it was really healthy.

Birth

A mother gives birth standing up. A newborn is 6 ft tall. When the calf is coming out the calf head comes out first then the front legs after the rest. Then the mother grooms the calf and helps it stand up. After a few hours the calf can run around. But its coat is still camouflaging in about 2 weeks it should show up.