Giraffe

What is necking?

a behavior where two males rub their necks together and lean on/shove each other to see who is stronger, or it can escalate to mock battles in which they swing their necks and try to hit each other with their ossicones

What do males develop?

a bump of calcium deposits on their foreheads which can get noticeably large

In some subspecies, what do males have?

a smaller additional set of ossicones behind the first pair

What is under the dark patches of their patterns?

a very complex system of blood vessels, with a large vessel surrounding each patch and feeding into smaller vessels that run under the patch

What does this coloration do?

acts as a natural sunscreen for giraffes who have their tongues out eating all day long

Giraffe vertebrae are just much ___

bigger

What are these blood vessels for?

blood flowing into the small vessels under the patches makes a thermal window to release body heat

How can you tell giraffe subspecies apart?

by their different spot colorations and shapes

What do males in a group do?

compete for dominance through necking

The groups that giraffes live in are...

constantly shifting and changing

What color is the tongue?

dark colored with a lighter pink base

What color are the tongues?

dark purple

Giraffes can go for a long time without ___

drinking

Why do giraffes go a long time without drinking?

drinking can be risky because they have to splay their legs to bend down and drink, making them vulnerable to predators on land as well as to crocodiles in the water

How big is each neck vertebrae?

each vertebrae can be up to ten inches long

How do giraffes get most of their water in the wild?

from their diet - acacia trees store a lot of water in their leaves

What is a giraffe's skin like?

grey colored and thick enough to protect them from thorns

What do giraffes eat?

herbivores - eat twigs, leaves, and fruits

What does the coat pattern do?

it allows the animal to camouflage among the trees and shadows

How do acacia trees protect themselves?

large thorns

What is their preferred food in the wild?

leaves of the acacia tree

In the wild, how much water does a giraffe drink on average?

less than 2 gallons a week

What do the dominant males do?

mate with the available females

What happens after necking?

one retreats without serious injury to the other party

What are giraffe "horns" called?

ossicones

Male giraffes have large ___, which they use when they are ___

ossicones necking

What are ossicones made of?

ossified cartilage covered with skin

The tongues are ___ and are used to...

prehensile pull leaves off branches

What do the papillae do?

protect them from thorny plants

The giraffe is the largest ___ on Earth

ruminant

Giraffes are ___ with ___ stomachs

ruminants four-chambered

What is their habitat?

savannas, grasslands, and open woodlands

Where are giraffes found?

scattered in areas of Africa ranging from Chad in the north to South Africa in the south, and from Niger in the west to Somalia in the east

How many neck vertebrae do giraffes have?

seven like most mammals

Giraffes do not form ___

strong social bonds

What is necking?

swinging their long necks at each other to fight over females

Giraffes are the ___ land animals on earth

tallest

The giraffe is the ___ terrestrial animal living on Earth

tallest

These patterns vary among ___ and ___

the different subspecies the different geographically separated populations

All four legs are...

the same length

Individual giraffes have what?

their own unique spot patterns, like fingerprints or zebra stripes

Do giraffes live alone or in groups?

they are found in groups

What do female ossicones look like?

they are thin and tufted

What happens to the male's ossicones with age?

they get larger and heavier

What is the giraffe's coloration?

they have a mottled coat pattern which can range from very light brown to almost solid black

What is special about the giraffe's mouth?

they have prehensile upper lips and long prehensile tongues

What do their bodies look like?

they have relatively short bodies with long legs and necks

What do giraffes do when they are not looking for food?

they regurgitate food from their stomachs and chew their cud

How do giraffes get around these thorns?

they use their long tongues to get around the thorns and strip leaves off the trees

What covers the mouth and tongue?

thickened papillae

What do male ossicones look like?

thicker and bald on top

What is the tongue used for?

to gather food

Why is the tongue dark colored?

to protect the tongue from the sun

Each giraffe has a ___

unique pattern

How tall do female giraffes get?

up to 14 feet

How tall do male giraffes get?

up to 18 feet

How much do male giraffes weigh?

up to 3000-3500 pounds

Scientific name

Giraffa camelopardalis

Main consevation message

Giraffes are quietly becoming an endangered species. There are less than 100,000 giraffes left in Africa. That is less than elephants. They suffer mostly from habitat loss, but a new trend is that they are being hunted for meat by elephant poachers hunting elephants for ivory. If we pledge never to purchase any product made from ivory, that will help cut down demand, hopefully curtailing elephant poaching, and thus curtailing giraffe hunting as well. Any ivory products you currently own can be donated to US Fish and Wildlife, where they crush it to make artwork that promotes elephant conservation.

How much water can they drink if it is available?

10-12 gallons a day

How much do female giraffes weigh?

1500-1800 pounds

Males average ___ feet tall

16-17

How long is a giraffe's tongue?

18 inches

How long is a giraffe's tongue?

18 to 20 inches

How tall was the tallest giraffe on record?

19.5 feet

How long can giraffe legs and necks get?

6 feet

How tall are babies when they are born?

6 feet

How many neck vertebrae to giraffes have?

7 like most other mammals

How much food can they eat in one day?

75 pounds

How much does a giraffe eat?

75 pounds of vegetation a day

How many subspecies of giraffe are there?

9