Facts About Giraffes
Giraffes are one of the tallest animals living on the surface of Earth in the present world. They are of African origin. Their anatomical features alone make them an interesting sight. But there are other intriguing things about them too, which makes them a much loved animal for most nature lovers and experts. |
The foremost striking feature of a giraffe is its height. The males usually stand at up to 18 feet while the females at around 16 feet. So relatively, their body weight is also more, with males weighing around 2000 pounds. The amazing thing is that a newly born giraffe measures about 6 feet, which is the height of a tall human being! And if you thought that their height is the only long thing about giraffes, let me tell you the length of their tongue. It is 18 inches in an average species. In fact, they use it to clean their ears! No wonder that they are black in color.
The skin of a giraffe is covered with yellowish brown spots, resembling those of a leopard. They like to feed themselves mostly on Acacia leaves, so much that they eat around seventy-five pounds of it each day! To wash that down, they drink up to ten gallons of water. Although considered as a quiet animal, they actually hiss, roar, whistle and moo to communicate with their other family members.
The mode of locomotion is giraffes can be called galloping, with their average speed nearing 37 miles per hour. One would expect such an animal to sleep for a long time, given the amount of food they take in. But surprisingly, they sleep for five minutes at a stretch, that too in standing position!
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Giraffes fall under the category of ungulate mammals with even toes. Herbivorous in nature, they fall under the ruminating animals’ class, just like cattle and deer. The giraffes come from the family named Giraffidae, of which another animal called okapi is also a part of. At one time, this Giraffidae family was found extensively on the planet, as revealed by several fossil specimens.