9 January 2017

Any way you look at it, giraffes are amazing animals:

• At 15 to 20 feet high they’re the tallest mammals on earth.
• Just like us giraffes have only seven bones in their necks but the bones are so big that males have necks six feet long (1.8m). Females are a bit shorter.
• Giraffes sleep only 10 to 120 minutes per day — less than a catnap to 2 hours!
• The spots on giraffes are unique to the individual, like human fingerprints.
• Giraffes can go without water longer than camels.
• Female giraffes give birth standing up.  Their babies fall five feet to the ground yet within an hour can stand and run.
• The giraffe’s height lets him eat leaves on tall trees …

• … but makes it awkward to reach the ground. Here’s what giraffes have to do to drink!

• Female giraffes prefer to mate with the tallest males.
• Male giraffes fight for access to the females by swinging their necks and whacking each other with their heads and horns.  Long necks are an advantage.   Watch a fight below.

• And finally, giraffes have big hearts. Literally. Their hearts are two feet long and weight 25 pounds.

And, oh no!  On December 9, 2016, the giraffe was placed on the Endangered Species List by the International Union for the Conservation of Nature, the group that administers the list. Giraffes are now in the Vulnerable category. Read more in Smithsonian magazine.

(photos from Wikimedia Commons. click on the images to see the originals. video from shashaenright on YouTube)