Facts and Information
about Giraffes


Facts about Giraffes, Masai Giraffe, Rothschild Giraffe, Somali Giraffe, Nigerian Giraffe. Giraffe information, Anatomy, Feeding, Reproduction, Habitat and Evolution

Introduction to Giraffes

Top Giraffe Facts

top giraffe facts

The heart of the giraffe is about 22 pounds and 2 feet long.
Giraffes have 7 vertebrae in their necks.

More Giraffe Facts...

There is no mistaken the giraffe for any other animal out there in the world, it is so unique. The tall and lanky body of it covered in spots is very unusual and an animal that most people enjoy seeing. In fact, they are one of the most visited animals at zoos around the world. It is also the tallest animal that you will find in the world but that doesn’t stop it from becoming prey for a variety of meat eaters out there in the wild.

Giraffes are very calm animals and they tend to do very well with other plant eaters in the wild. They are often seen on the same feeding grounds as them. When there is plenty of food up high in the trees they will consume it first. This means there is more on the ground for those animals that can’t reach above them to feed.

These animals form social grounds even though they aren’t very vocal. The females tend to get along very well in their herds. The young males are extremely competitive though for who will be in charge and which ones earn the right to mate with the females. It can be a very long time before males are strong enough to be able to mate and they have been seen engaging in sexual behaviors with other males for that reason.

Every single giraffe in the world has its own pattern of spots. They can be used to help researchers identify them both in the wild and in captivity. These spots range in size and shape and even color so you want to give them a very close look the next time you get to see a giraffe. The males have darker spots and they don’t have hair on the top of their horns either.

It is often believed that giraffes are among the quietest animals in the world. They do make some basic sounds but not very often. It is

Giraffe Species

believed that most of their communication though takes place at tones that are so much lower than what humans can hear with their ears. This is a fascinating fact and one that many researchers would love to devote more time to. Perhaps it can give us a better understanding of these animals.

There is one species of giraffe out there that is considered to be endangered at this point in time. It is called the Nigerian Giraffe but is commonly referred to as the West African Giraffe. However there aren’t too many serious efforts out there to protect it. When you consider the long list of animals out there that are desperately at low numbers then the needs of this one tends to get pushed aside.

While they don’t have to worry too much out there in the wild about predators as adults, only about ¼ of their offspring make it to maturity. This is due to lions and other predators seeing them as easy targets. That combined with the fact that they have a very long gestation period of more than a year means that should their numbers dip dramatically it would be very difficult to get them to increase.

Giraffes can successfully live in the wild for about 20 to 25 years with the right conditions. A common question that people have is due giraffes sleep. They do but that time is very small. They do so only about 2 hours per day but sleep for stretches of about 10 minutes at a time. They almost always remain in an upright position though with the exception of the weak and the very young.

Giraffe Information