Home (Giraffe)
Home  
 
 
Home » Animals » Giraffe


 

Giraffe

Animals Gilded FlickerGizzard Shad

Giraffe, tallest of all animals. Giraffes inhabit dry, tree-scattered terrain south of the Sahara. The male averages 5.

 


Giraffes used to live in most of the open country of continental Africa. They were wiped out of Egypt by 2600 BC and from western and southern Africa in the 20th century. The largest populations of wild giraffes now live in Tanzania.

Giraffe
Related Category: Vertebrate Zoology
African ruminant mammal, Giraffa camelopardalis, living in open savanna S of the Sahara. The tallest of animals, giraffes browse in treetops at heights inaccessible to other leaf-eaters.

Giraffe
Mammal. The giraffe is the tallest mammal, reaching as high as 5.5 meters (18 feet). Although their necks are much longer, giraffes have only seven vertebrae, the same number as most mammals.

Giraffes can be found in the savannas of eastern, southern, and central Africa. They like the dry climate and open plains as well as denser forest where they find the plants that they most often eat.

GIRAFFE
Click here to buy Giraffe products!
Like human fingerprints, the markings of a giraffe's coat are unique to each individual. When groups are gathered, the patterns act as disruptive camouflage, confusing potential predators.

Giraffe
Giraffa camelopardalis
The Giraffe browses on leaves and can reach branches 19 feet from the ground.

GIRAFFE
Giraffe camelopardalis
Name: Giraffe
Scientific name: Giraffa camelopardalis
Range:  Africa
Habitat:  Dry, tree-scattered terrain south of the Saraha
Status:  Not threatened
Diet:  Acacia tree leaves, grass, and low laying bushes ...

Giraffe Characteristics
The giraffe is the tallest living animal which is instantly recognizable by its exceptionally long neck. Adult males stand 15 - 19 feet (4.6 - 6.0 metres) tall, whereas females are shorter at 13 - 16 feet (4 - 4.8 metres) tall.

Giraffe
From LoveToKnow 1911
GIRAFFE, a corruption of Zarafah, the Arabic name for the tallest of all mammals, and the typical representative of the family Giraffidae, the distinctive characters of which are given in the article Pecora, ...

Giraffe Videos
You are about to download a video clip of our male giraffe Nairobi with Dr. Katie and Dave discussing giraffe eating methods.

Giraffe
Giraffe: Giraffa camelopardalis
Distribution: Africa, south of the Sahara desert, in open woodland and wooded grassland.
Height including horns: Male, 4.7-5.3m. Female, 3.94.5m.

Giraffe Gestation: Giraffe gestation lasts between 14 and 15 months, after which a single calf is born. The mother gives birth standing up and the embryonic sack actually bursts when the baby falls to the ground. Newborn giraffes are about 1.

Giraffe Animal of Africa living in the open country is south of the Sahara. The tallest of animals, a male maybe 18 ft. from the hoof to the Crown.

Giraffes prefer bushy or open savanna overgrown with shrubs and require different types of Acasia Trees to feed. They do not often venture to open grasslands and they drink water when it is available.

Giraffe Home Page... a good place to start
Habitat & Geographic Distribution
Physical Description
Behavior
Giraffe Babies & Reproduction
Predators
Diet ...

Giraffe
Giraffa camelopardalis
The world's tallest animal uses its reach to get a neck up on other browsing animals.

The Giraffe (Giraffa camelopardalis) is one of the characteristic large mammals that one may see when visiting game parks in much of southern Africa.

Diet: Giraffes are plant-eaters, eating mostly leaves, twigs and bark from the tops of the thorny acacia plant. The giraffes carefully eat around the thorns, and their tough lips and thick saliva protect them somewhat from the thorns.

RANGE:
Giraffes can be found in central, eastern and southern Africa.
HABITAT:
Giraffes live in the savannas of Africa, where they roam freely among the tall trees, arid land, dense forests and open plains.

How is a Giraffe's Neck So Flexible?
The giraffe's neck has only seven bones, or vertebrae. How is it so flexible? Get the answer from our partners at HowStuffWorks.com.
 
Download Killer Clips ...

Giraffes move in loose herds on the open woodlands and grasslands of the African Savannah. Eating mostly at dusk and dawn on leaves and fruit, the Giraffe's main food source is the acacia tree.

Giraffe form scattered herds, the compositions of which are constantly changing. Although gregarious, the individual is the social unit in giraffe society. Home ranges are large, about 46 sq. miles.

Giraffes first experience life as a two metre drop to the ground, because female giraffes give birth standing up. For the first few weeks, the calf remains hidden in the shade and the mother returns to it from her foraging trips.

Giraffe also makes sense of the expression, to stick one's neck out. When we take risks by stretching our definition of who we are, we see new worlds of possibility.

Giraffes strip leaves from thorny acacia trees, sometimes colonized by ants, with their 45 cm (18 in.) long, prehensile tongues.
2.
Bull giraffes forage higher in trees than cow giraffes which reduces food competition between the sexes.

Giraffes are known for their spotted coats. Different subspecies (types) of giraffes have different patterns of spots. Reticulated giraffes (the kind we have at the Saint Louis Zoo) have large brown spots separated by cream-colored lines.

Giraffes are best known for their very long necks and the striking coat pattern of irregular brown patches on a lighter background. Each giraffe has a pattern of blotches that is unique to that individual, like a human fingerprint.

Giraffes are usually silent but do possess a range of vocalizations. Calves bleat or mew and cows seeking calves will bellow. Courting bulls may cough noisily. Alarm snorts, moans, snores, hissing, and flute like sounds have also been heard.

Giraffes have the same number of bones in their neck as humans do.
Baby giraffes are about 6 feet tall when they are born.
They are one of the few animals born with horns.

The Giraffe Family Tree
Click on the species above to learn more,
or jump to the Giraffidae Species List ...

Reticulated Giraffe
Giraffa camelopardis reticulata
Range:
The Reticulated Giraffe are found in northeast Kenya and is interspersed in central and southern Africa.

HOW IT MOVES: Giraffe has two ways to locomote. Walk and gallop. In galloping it can reach the top speed of 37 mph [60 kph] The giraffe's legs work in pairs like a running rabbit. To drink, a giraffe must either straddle or bend its forelegs.

Gerenuk
The gerenuk, Litocranius walleri, of eastern Africa, is known as the giraffe antelope and have popular name Waller's Gazelle
[Total Votes: 182, Hits: 553]
Updated On: 10/22/2007Print ...

Giraffes gallop with the hind feet reaching in front of the fore feet and the neck swinging widely, giving the appearance of slow motion, although they can actually reach 48 km/hr (30 mph).

giraffe
from it once two representatives mold-are enough and only remain widespread family of the giraffes today: the giraffe from the subfamily the long-neck...
Send greeting Email ...

Giraffes necking (Giraffa camelopardalis) in Ithala Game Reserve, Northern KwaZulu Natal, South Africa.
Scientific classification
Kingdom:
Animalia ...

Giraffes live in open woodlands and gather food with their tongues. Their necks which make up half of their height allow them to reach leaves far above the ground. They are able to watch for danger because they are so tall.

Okapis and giraffes are very different in their ecology and behavior. Okapis inhabit the deep forests of central Africa. They are solitary animals with relatively small home ranges. Their diet includes mostly browse, but they also graze on grasses.

Giraffe seahorse, Hippocampus camelopardalis Bianconi, 1854
Knysna seahorse, Hippocampus capensis Boulenger, 1900
Hippocampus colemani Kuiter, 2003
Tiger tail seahorse, Hippocampus comes Cantor, 1850 ...

Lions eat anything they can catch: wildebeest, zebra, young rhinos, young giraffe, impala, gazelle, rabbits, baby elephants, and will even eat fish, rodents, birds, turtles, and ostrich eggs.

I don't have any good news regarding the calf of Giraffe. We spent the day with them trying our best. Giraffe defended her calf from us until sunset.

How many vertebrae are in a grown giraffe's neck?
What starts prairie fires? Why?
Why did the bison die off?
What kind of animals live on grasslands?
Where are most grasslands?
How many times each year does the rain fall?

Tropical grassland animals (which do not all occur in the same area) include giraffes, zebras, buffaloes, kangaroos, mice, moles, gophers, ground squirrels, snakes, worms, termites, beetles, lions, leopards, hyenas, and elephants.

The antelopes, deer, and various other hoofed animals like camels, giraffes, pigs, and horses include some of the rarest and most endangered animals on earth.

Artiodactyls range from the rabbit-sized "mouse deer" of southeast Asia to the three-ton giant hippopotamus and ten-foot giraffes.

Lions are carnivores that thrive in habitats that are rich in prey, including wildebeest and other antelopes, giraffe, buffalo, wild hogs, and zebra. They also eat carrion stolen from hyenas, cheetahs, and wild dogs.

Giraffe Facts
Penguin Facts
Facts About Jellyfish
Animal Cruelty: Animal Abuse Facts and Statistics
Chinchillas as Pets - Chinchilla Facts
Snowy Owl Facts
Cheetah Facts
Facts about the Koala
Facts about Butterflies
Did You Know?

Giraffes . . . Horses. . . Insectivora. . . Marsupials. . . Primates. . . Rabbits. . . Rodentia. . . Sloths/Armadillos. . . Hippopotamus. . . Wild Artiodactyla. . . Deer. . .Buffalos. . . Tapirs. . . Rhinos. . . Zebras . . Extinct Mammals. . .

Did you know? Modern mammals, including humans and giraffes, have seven neck vertebrae. Dolichorhynchops had more than 20.
Protection status: Extinct
Size relative to a 6-ft (2-m) man: ...

The Pronghorn, like sheep and goats, has a gall bladder, and like giraffes, lacks dewclaws. If that weren't enough, the Pronghorn is the fastest animal in the western hemisphere, running in 20-foot bounds at up to 60 miles per hour.

Artiodactyla - pigs, hippos, giraffes, camels, moose, goats, bison, deer ...

Antelopes, gazelles, warthogs, smaller carnivores, and occasionally Cape buffalo, giraffe, and young elephants
GESTATION:
98-105 days; on average 2-4 cubs born ...

(Other ruminants include sheep, giraffes, deer, and camels.) Cows have 4-chambered stomachs. When a cow eats, it chews, swallows, then brings food back up from one of the chambers for re-chewing.

It would have had a long, prehensile tongue, used in living herbivores like giraffes to manipulate leaves and other vegetation. Palorchestes had large, compressed claws that could have been used to dig roots and tubers.

See also: Elephant, Camel, Antelope, Deer, Lion