🦒Giraffe Facts🦒
I would like to share some facts about Giraffes with you! Giraffes are captivating creatures, and their unique features make them stand out in the animal kingdom. Don't forget to celebrate the giraffes.
What is your favorite animal?
Facts about Giraffes:
1. Giraffes hold the title of being the tallest mammals on Earth. Male giraffes (bulls) can reach heights of up to 18 feet tall. That is equivalent to the height of a single-story house.
2. Female giraffes (cows) are slightly shorter but still impressive.
3. Their most striking feature is their incredibly long neck, which allows them to reach vegetation that other herbivores cannot access. Giraffes also have long legs, high shoulders, and a sloping back. The tapering head is adorned with 2 to 5 short horns.
4. Giraffes use their tongues, which can be almost half a meter long, to eat foliage up to about 20 feet above the ground. They primarily feed on leaves from tall trees, especially acacia trees.
5. By the age of four, giraffes nearly reach their full height. Males can weigh up to 2600 pounds or more, while females weigh up to 1800 pounds or more. Their tails can be about 4 feet or longer, with a tuft of black hair at the end.
6. Both males and females have a pair of horns, and males also possess other bony protuberances on their skulls.
7. Despite having only seven neck (cervical) vertebrae, these vertebrae are elongated to support the long neck. Thick-walled arteries in the neck have extra valves to counteract gravity when the giraffe raises or lowers its head. When the giraffe lowers its head to the ground, special vessels at the base of the brain regulate the blood pressure.
8. Giraffes move in a distinctive way, where both legs on one side move together. During a gallop, they push off with their hind legs, and the front legs come down almost simultaneously. Interestingly, no two hooves touch the ground simultaneously during a gallop.
Share a fact about giraffes with us?
Books about Giraffes:
1. Giraffes Can’t Dance by Giles Andreae
2. The Giraffe That Walked to Paris by Nancy Milton
3. The Giraffe and the Pelly and Me by Roald Dahl
4. Abigail by Catherine Rayner
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