The Giraffe (Giraffa camelopardalis) is the tallest of all our land-living animals.
It is approximately 4.3 metres (14 ft) to 5.2 metres (17 ft) tall, but the tallest male recorded stood almost 6 metres (20 ft).
The species name camelopardalis (camelopard) is derived from its early Roman name, where it was described as having characteristics of both a camel and a leopard.
Each giraffe has a unique coat pattern.
Giraffes can reach a sprint speed of up to 60 km/h (37 mph).
A single well-placed kick from an adult giraffe can kill a predator. Lions are the only predators which pose a serious threat to an adult giraffe. When hunting an adult giraffe, lions try to knock it off its feet and pull it down.
The giraffe has one of the shortest sleep requirements of any mammal - 4.5 or 4.6 hours per 24 hours.
Its tongue, lips and palate are tough enough to deal with sharp thorns in trees. With the long tongue (about 45 centimetres /18 in), the giraffe can also clean off bugs from its face.
Facts picked from the Wikipedia article.
The photographs are my own, from our zoo.
For ABC Wednesday
13 comments:
Especially like the giraffe on his spindly legs with the zebra in the background.
Great photos. I can understand why the Romans thought the giraffe had camel characteristics. They have a similar way of walking.
I saw giraffes at the Toronto zoo this month! love them; so did my daughter, who insisted on seeing them
ROG, ABC Wednesday team
There's nothing like a giraffe for sneering at you, except maybe a camel. I love the photo with the elephants, it really makes it clear just how big giraffes are.
a super kissable face in that first shot. would so love to have seen this beautiful giant. lots of interesting info here, that is not much sleep at all.
Wonderful pictures, and all this is so interesting. So each giraffe's pattern is different, like the zebra? They are really much more beautiful up close like this.
Thank you for this informative post about this beautiful, magnificent animal.I enjoyed seeing your photos.
They are beautiful creatures, and photographs.
Joy
ABC Wednesday
Love the giraffes. beautiful photos
I love the expression on his/her face in the first photo! Priceless!
great shots! I think you've captured their personality in these portraits too!
I've always thought the giraffe to be one of the most wonderful animals to see. Their beautiful spotted hides, their large eyes, their long tongue, their funny, huge, ungainly looking bodies. Thank you for the information, much of which I did not know.
I was told the giraffe is the most hardworking animals. It's heart has to work very hard to pimp blood to it's head,
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