Giraffe are an all time favourite to view in the wild; so fascinating to watch!….but I realised that most of us don’t know much about these graceful legends. Hence this post.
Giraffe belong to the genus Giraffa. They are the tallest living animal and the largest ruminant on earth.
Males stand 5,5m tall, can run at a speed of 56 km per hour. They also only need to drink every 3/4 days.
Ruminants are two-toed animals that have more than one stomach; giraffe have one stomach with 4 compartments.
They regurgitate food and continue chewing as an ongoing process throughout the day.
Giraffe have become adapted to need very little sleep.
They sleep standing up as its too risky to be lying down at night; takes too long to get those long gangly legs untwisted, to stand up and get steady if dangerous predators are around. How amazing is this adaptation.
Gestation is 15 months, and the Calf would be born at 2m tall, weighing about 100kg.
Calves drop about 2m to the ground at birth, which severs the umbilical cord and ruptures the amniotic sac.
Calves first sample vegetation at 3 weeks, but continue to suckle up to almost 2 years.
Giraffe are also vital to keeping our ecosystems in balance. They eat the browse that others cannot reach, which promotes growth of forage and opens up areas for themselves and other smaller animals to make use of.
So by protecting Africa’s giraffe, we’re also protecting other smaller species too.
Giraffe have useful long prehensile tongues (like monkeys have prehensile tails) that enable them to reach and grasp leaves on thorny branches without scratching their face or eyes. Another amazing adaptation.
Interesting to know paintings of Giraffe appear on ancient Egyptian tombs…they were known as Camelopards.
Always such a privilege to see these majestic animals on our farm, especially wonderful when a young one is birthed every year or two.
