Description of the giraffe. Giraffe - the biggest heart in the world

o a mammal of the giraffe genus of the giraffidae family, the tallest existing animal; body length 3-4 m, height at withers up to 3.7 m, height 5-6 m, weight 550-750 kg. The giraffe has a relatively small head on a disproportionately long neck, a sloping back, long legs and a tongue (up to 40-45 cm). The giraffe has only seven cervical vertebrae, like other mammals. Both males and females have small horns (sometimes two pairs) covered with black hair. There is often an additional unpaired horn in the middle of the forehead. There is no gall bladder, the cecum is very long. The forelimbs are longer than the hind limbs, the second and fifth fingers are absent. The hooves are low and wide. The fur is dense and short. The spotted coloration of giraffes from different places varies greatly. A pale yellow or brown background with dark spots is possible. Young animals are always lighter in color than older ones. At the end of the tail there is a tuft of long hair.

The most famous subspecies is the Masai giraffe, which has chocolate-brown spots scattered across its yellowish background. irregular shape spots. A very beautiful subspecies of the reticulated giraffe, whose body is as if covered with a golden net. Albino giraffes are occasionally found. Exotic coloring helps the animal camouflage among trees.
Giraffes have the highest blood pressure of any mammal (three times that of humans). Compared to humans, his blood is thicker and contains twice as many blood cells. The giraffe’s heart weighs 7-8 kg and is capable of pumping blood (up to 60 liters of blood circulates in the giraffe’s body) to the brain to a height of 3.5 m. To drink water, the giraffe has to spread its front legs wide and lower its head low. At high level blood pressure in this position, bleeding in the brain does not occur only because in the jugular vein near the brain the giraffe has a closing valve system that limits the flow of blood to the head.
The giraffe lives in the savannas and dry woodlands of sub-Saharan Africa. It leads a diurnal lifestyle, is capable of moving at speeds of up to 50 km/h, and can also jump over obstacles and swim well. The giraffe rarely lives alone, usually forms small herds (7-12 individuals), less often up to 50-70. The composition of the herd is so random that it rarely includes the same animals two days in a row. Old males live separately. Sometimes fights for primacy occur between males, but they are never fierce. Giraffes sometimes even form common herds with antelopes and ostriches.
Its high growth allows the giraffe to feed on leaves, flowers, and young shoots of trees from the upper tier of vegetation. A giraffe can rear up and get food from a height of up to 7 m. It feeds in the morning and in the afternoon, spending the hottest hours half asleep, chewing cud. The animal feeds mainly on young shoots and buds of umbrella acacias, mimosas, and other trees and shrubs. With its long tongue, the giraffe can tear leaves from branches covered with large spines. It is inconvenient for a giraffe to get ground plants; to do this, he needs to kneel.
There is a strict hierarchy within the giraffe herd. A lower rank cannot cross the path of a higher one; he always lowers his neck somewhat in his presence. Giraffes are peace-loving animals. Only when standing social status, it is possible to clarify the relationship. Male giraffes show each other their horns and then exchange blows to the body and neck. A duel is always bloodless. The terrible blow with the front hooves, with which a giraffe can successfully repel a lion’s attack, is not used during a duel. The defeated one is never expelled from the herd, as is the case with other herd animals. The giraffe has sensitive hearing and sharp eyesight. He moves while simultaneously extending his legs, located on one side of his body. An alarmed animal goes into a gallop at a speed of up to 60 km/h, can jump over obstacles and swim. To sleep, the giraffe lies on the ground, tucking its front legs and one of its hind legs under itself. The head is placed on the other hind leg, extended to the side. Night sleep often interrupted, the duration of complete deep sleep is 20 minutes per night.
Giraffes have a rut in July-August; males often fight for the female. The gestation period for giraffes is about 15 months. One calf is born, about 2 m tall, which is able to stand on its feet almost immediately after birth. During childbirth, members of the herd surround expectant mother ring, protecting from possible danger, and then greet the newborn by touching noses. Lactation lasts 10 months. The giraffe becomes sexually mature at the age of three years. The giraffe has few natural enemies. Occasionally he becomes a victim of a lion, and sometimes dies while feeding, getting his head entangled in the branches. In a number of places, the giraffe was completely exterminated as a result of hunting for meat and skin and was preserved mainly in national parks.
Giraffes were kept in zoos by the ancient Egyptians 1500 BC, considering them to be the offspring of camels and leopards. The name camel oleopard (camelopardalis) has been retained as the scientific name of the species. The first giraffes appeared in European zoos at the beginning of the 20th century. They were transported across the sea on sailing ships, and across Europe on foot. Currently, giraffes are kept in every major zoo, and they reproduce well in captivity. The lifespan of giraffes is 20-30 years.

One of the most interesting inhabitants of the African savannah is the giraffe. This is the tallest animal on the planet. His height reaches 6 meters, that is, he is taller than a two-story house. Giraffes live only in Africa. The report will tell you more about them.

general description

A giraffe, 6 meters tall, weighs up to 2 tons. The largest animals on the planet are the elephant, rhinoceros and hippopotamus. The giraffe has a long neck - as much as 1.5 meters! Like other mammals, it has 7 vertebrae, only they are very elongated.

Most giraffes two-horned, but sometimes there are animals with 4 and even 5 horns on their heads. Its yellowish-red skin is decorated with dark brown round spots. No two giraffes are alike in Africa. Each skin is colored differently and individually, like human fingerprints.

These African animals have very expressive eyes with thick black eyelashes.

Lifestyle

Giraffes are not very attached to each other. They graze alone or in small groups of 4-10 animals. Sometimes there are herds of 20-30 individuals. Their main food is tree leaves, They especially love prickly acacia. It is difficult for giraffes to bend their necks, so they only nibble grass in times of famine. The tallest mammal on Earth spends 20 hours a day eating! He eats 30-40 kg of greens per day. He sleeps only 1-2 hours lying on the ground.

A giraffe can live without water even longer than a camel. But he drinks 40 liters at a time.

This is very peace-loving animal, fights between them are extremely rare.

Giraffes can walk only on a solid plain and only in two ways: at a gallop, throwing forward first 2 front legs, then 2 hind legs, or at an amble, moving 2 left legs in turn, then 2 right ones.

Such a large animal has few enemies: lion, leopard, tiger. The giraffe flees for its life, developing speed up to 60 km/h, but can also enter into battle with a predator. A giraffe can break a lion's skull with a powerful blow from its hoof.

IN wildlife these artiodactyls live 30 years, in captivity they live up to 40 years.

Reproduction

The female can become a mother from the age of 4. The mating season of animals occurs during the rainy season. Pregnancy lasts 1.5 years. Always Only one baby is born weighing 50-70 kg and 2 meters tall! Within an hour he stands on his thin legs, and after two he runs briskly.

The female feeds the baby giraffe with milk. At the age of 2-3 weeks, the baby already knows how to get food for itself, but suckles from its mother for 1.5 years.

Female giraffes are very good mothers. They jealously protect their cub from all the dangers that it conceals.

• A giraffe literally the biggest heart on Earth. It weighs 10-12 kg and passes 60 liters of blood through itself at a time.
• The animal's tongue is completely black and half a meter long. Giraffes lick their tongues like domestic cats.
• They are able to jump over obstacles 2 meters high.
• The female gives birth while standing, and the newborn giraffe falls to the ground from a height of 2 meters.
• Giraffe grows up to 6 years.
• When the animal gallops, its long neck swings from side to side, describing a figure eight. It looks like it might get tied in a knot.
• Previously, scientists thought that giraffes were voiceless. Only recently it became clear that they “talk” to each other, but inaudibly to the human ear.

It is impossible not to notice or confuse him with someone else. The giraffe is visible from afar - a characteristic spotted body, a small head on a disproportionately elongated neck and long strong legs.

Description of the giraffe

Giraffa camelopardalis is rightfully recognized as the tallest of modern animals.. Males weighing 900–1200 kg grow to 5.5–6.1 m, approximately consisting of 7 cervical vertebrae (as in most mammals). Females are always slightly smaller in height/weight.

Appearance

The giraffe posed the biggest mystery to physiologists, who wondered how it copes with overloads when suddenly raising/lowering its head. The giant's heart is located 3 m below the head and 2 m above the hooves. Consequently, his limbs should swell (under the pressure of the blood column), which does not happen in reality, and a cunning mechanism has been invented to deliver blood to the brain.

1. The great jugular vein has shut-off valves: they cut off blood flow to maintain pressure in the central artery leading to the brain.
2. Head movements do not threaten the giraffe's death, since its blood is very thick (the density of red blood cells is twice the density of human blood cells).
3. The giraffe has a powerful 12-kilogram heart: it pumps 60 liters of blood per minute and creates pressure 3 times greater than in humans.

The head of the artiodactyl is decorated with ossicones - a pair (sometimes 2 pairs) of fur-covered horns. Often in the center of the forehead there is a bone growth, similar to another horn. The giraffe has neat protruding ears and black eyes surrounded by thick eyelashes.

This is interesting! The animals have an amazing oral apparatus with a flexible purple tongue 46 cm long. Hairs grow on the lips, sending information to the brain about the degree of maturity of the leaves and the presence of thorns.

The inner edges of the lips are studded with nipples, which hold the plant, pruned by the lower incisors. The tongue passes by the thorns, curls into a groove and wraps around a branch with young leaves, pulling them up to the upper lip. The spots on the giraffe's body are designed to camouflage it among the trees, imitating the play of light and shadow in the crowns. The lower part of the body is lighter and free of spots. The coloring of giraffes depends on the areas where the animals live.

Lifestyle and behavior

These artiodactyls have excellent vision, smell and hearing, supported by phenomenal growth - all factors combined allow them to quickly notice the enemy and monitor their comrades at a distance of up to 1 km. Giraffes feed in the morning and after a siesta, which they spend half asleep, hiding in the shade of acacia trees and chewing cud. During these hours, their eyes are half-closed, but their ears are constantly moving. Deep, albeit short (20 minutes) sleep comes to them at night: the giants either get up or lay down on the ground again.

This is interesting! They lie down, tucking one hind leg and both front legs under them. The giraffe extends its second hind leg to the side (to quickly stand up in case of danger) and places its head on it so that the neck turns into an arch.

Adult females with children and young animals usually live in groups of up to 20 individuals, dispersing when grazing in the forest and uniting in open areas. An inextricable connection is preserved only between mothers and babies: the rest either leave the group or return.

The more food, the more numerous the community: in the rainy season it includes at least 10–15 individuals, in drought – no more than five. Animals move primarily by ambling - a smooth step, in which both right and then both left legs are alternately used. Occasionally, giraffes change style, switching to a slow gallop, but do not maintain such a gait for more than 2–3 minutes.

Galloping is accompanied by deep nodding and bending. This is explained by a shift in the center of gravity, in which the giraffe is forced to tilt its neck/head back in order to simultaneously lift its front legs off the ground. Despite the rather clumsy running, the animal develops good speed (about 50 km/h) and is capable of jumping over obstacles up to 1.85 m high.

How long do giraffes live?

Under natural conditions, these colossi live for less than a quarter of a century, in zoos - up to 30–35 years. The first long-necked captives appeared in the zoological parks of Egypt and Rome around 1500 BC. Giraffes arrived on the European continent (France, Great Britain and Germany) only in the 20s of the last century.

They were transported by sailing ships, and then simply led overland, putting leather sandals on their hooves (so that they would not wear out) and covering them with raincoats. Nowadays, giraffes have learned to reproduce in captivity and are kept in almost all famous zoos.

Important! Previously, zoologists were sure that giraffes “don’t talk,” but later found out that they have a healthy vocal apparatus, configured to broadcast a variety of sound signals.

Thus, frightened cubs make thin and plaintive sounds without opening their lips. Seasoned males roar loudly, having reached the peak of excitement. In addition, when highly excited or during a fight, males growl or cough hoarsely. When faced with an external threat, animals snore, releasing air through their nostrils.

Subspecies of giraffes

Each subspecies differs in nuances of color and area of ​​permanent habitat. After much debate, biologists came to the conclusion that there are 9 subspecies, between which crossing is sometimes possible.

Modern subspecies of giraffe (with range zones):

• Angolan giraffe – Botswana and Namibia;
• Kordofan giraffe – Central African Republic and western Sudan;
• Thornycroft's giraffe – Zambia;
• West African giraffe - now only in Chad (formerly all of West Africa);
• Masai giraffe – Tanzania and southern Kenya;
• Nubian giraffe - western Ethiopia and eastern Sudan;
• Reticulated giraffe – southern Somalia and northern Kenya;
• Rothschild's giraffe (Ugandan giraffe) – Uganda;
• South African giraffe - South Africa, Mozambique and Zimbabwe.

This is interesting! Even among animals belonging to the same subspecies, no two giraffes are absolutely identical. The spotted patterns on the fur are akin to fingerprints and are completely unique.

Range, habitats

To see giraffes, you have to go to Africa. Now the animals live in the savannas and dry forests of South/East Africa, located south and southeast of the Sahara. Giraffes that inhabited the territories north of the Sahara were exterminated a long time ago: the last population lived on the coast Mediterranean Sea and in the Nile Delta during the era of Ancient Egypt. In the last century, the range has narrowed even more, and the largest populations of giraffes today live only in reserves and nature reserves.

Giraffe diet

It takes a giraffe a total of 12–14 hours to eat a daily meal (usually at dawn and sunset). A favorite delicacy is acacias growing in different parts African continent. In addition to varieties of acacia, the menu includes from 40 to 60 species of woody vegetation, as well as tall young grass that grows wildly after rainstorms. During drought, giraffes switch to less appetizing food, starting to pick up dried acacia pods, fallen leaves and hard leaves of plants that tolerate the lack of moisture well.

Like other ruminants, the giraffe chews plant matter repeatedly so that it is quickly absorbed in the stomach. These artiodactyls are endowed with a curious property - they chew without stopping their movement, which significantly increases the grazing time.

This is interesting! Giraffes are classified as “pluckers”, as they pick flowers, young shoots and leaves of trees/shrubs growing at a height of 2 to 6 meters.

It is believed that, relative to its size (height and weight), the giraffe eats very moderately. Males eat approximately 66 kg of fresh greens every day, females eat even less, up to 58 kg. In some regions, animals, making up for the lack of mineral components, absorb the soil. These artiodactyls can do without water: it enters their body from food, which is 70% moisture. However, going to sources with clean water, giraffes drink it with pleasure.

Natural enemies

In nature, these giants have few enemies. Not everyone will dare to attack such a colossus, and few people want to suffer from the powerful front hooves. One precise blow and the enemy’s skull is split. But attacks on adults and especially young giraffes still happen. On the list natural enemies such predators appear as:

• leopards;
• hyena-like dogs.

Eyewitnesses who visited the Etosha Nature Reserve in northern Namibia described how lions jumped on a giraffe and managed to bite its neck.

It is the tallest land animal on the planet.

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✪ Giraffe has spots | Children's song about animals | Children's songs with movements for babies | Lyulyabi TV

✪ Nikolay Gumilev - Giraffe

✪ Giraffe - Che Che Kulay Giraffe | Songs about Animals | Pinkfong Songs for Kids

✪ How to draw a Giraffe. Drawing lesson for children from 3 years old | Coloring book for children

✪ "Giraffe". Nikolay Gumilyov. Melodeclamation

Subtitles

Children's song "The giraffe has spots" Songs for children with movements Children's channel Lyulyabi TV Giraffes have spots, spots, spots, spots everywhere. Giraffes have a lot of spots! There’s even one – on the beard! On the forehead, ears, neck, elbows, noses, bellies, knees and socks. On the forehead, ears, neck, elbows, noses, bellies, knees and socks. Elephants have folds, folds, folds, folds everywhere. Elephants have a lot of sweets! There’s even one – on the beard! On the forehead, ears, neck, elbows, noses, bellies, knees and socks. On the forehead, ears, neck, elbows, noses, bellies, knees and socks. Kittens have fur, fur, fur, fur everywhere. Kittens have fur all over them! There’s even some – and on the tail! On the forehead, ears, neck, elbows, noses, bellies, knees and socks. On the forehead, ears, neck, elbows, noses, bellies, knees and socks. And the zebra has stripes, there are stripes everywhere. And the zebra has stripes, there are stripes on his back! On the forehead, ears, neck, elbows, noses, bellies, knees and socks. On the forehead, ears, neck, elbows, noses, bellies, knees and socks. Giraffes have spots, spots, spots, spots everywhere. Elephants have a lot of sweets! There’s even one – on the beard! Kittens have fur all over them! There’s even some – and on the tail! And the zebra has stripes, there are stripes on his back! Kittens have fur all over them! There’s even some – and on the tail! Kittens have fur all over them! There’s even some – and on the tail! And the zebra has stripes, there are stripes on his back!

Characteristic

Male giraffes reach a height of up to 5.5-6.1 (about 1/3 of the length is the neck) and weigh up to 900-1200 kg. Females tend to be slightly smaller and lighter. Giraffes have an unusually long neck, despite the fact that they, like almost all other mammals, have only seven cervical vertebrae. Tall height increases the load on the circulatory system, especially in relation to the supply to the brain. Therefore, giraffes have especially strong hearts. It passes 60 liters of blood per minute, weighs 12 kg and creates a pressure that is three times higher than that of a person. However, it would not be able to withstand the overload of the sudden lowering and raising of the giraffe's head. To ensure that such movements do not cause the death of the animal, the giraffe's blood is thicker and has twice the density of blood cells than that of humans. In addition, the giraffe has special shut-off valves in the great jugular vein, interrupting the flow of blood so that pressure is maintained in the main artery supplying the brain. The giraffe's dark tongue is very long and muscular: the giraffe can protrude it up to 45 cm and is able to grab branches with it.

Giraffes live alone or in small herds that are not particularly attached to each other. The area they travel around in search of food can be up to 100 km². Social behavior depends on gender: females adhere to herds of 4 to 32 individuals, in which the composition changes from time to time. The hierarchical structures and behavior of giraffes in a herd are not yet fully understood. Giraffes do not have a single leader, but older and stronger males, called elders, have an advantage over others. Young males also form small separate groups until they reach sexual maturity, after which they begin to live alone. Giraffes often move with herds of antelopes or zebras, as this gives them greater safety. When two adult males meet, it often comes down to a ritual duel, in which they stand next to each other and try to headbutt the opponent’s neck. However, unlike other social animals, defeated male giraffes are not expelled from the herd. During mating periods, fights between males are more aggressive in nature and can reach such desperation that one of the competitors may eventually be “beaten” until he loses consciousness. An option for a showdown could be a duel near a tree, in which everyone tries to get around their opponent in such a way as to pin him to the trunk. There were no cases of giraffes using their dangerous front hooves against each other, as they usually do against predators.

It is widely believed that giraffes are voiceless animals. However, in reality they communicate with each other at frequencies below 20 Hz, inaudible to the human ear.

The mating season usually lasts from July to September, and the gestation period is 14-15 months. As a rule, only one cub is born. Birth occurs in a standing position, so the first thing a newborn will experience is a fall from a height of two meters. Immediately after birth, the baby giraffe reaches 1.8 m in height and 50 kg. After just an hour, the cub stands firmly on its feet and after a few hours begins to run. However, cubs are allowed into the herd only after two to three weeks. The offspring stays with the mother for about a year and a half. At the age of four the giraffe reaches sexual maturity, at the age of six it reaches full height. In the wild, life expectancy is about 25 years, in captivity about 35.

Due to its size, the giraffe has few natural enemies, and from those few predators that dare to attack it, it defends itself quite effectively with blows from its front hooves. Such a blow can crush the skull of any predator. In Etosha National Park, lions were once observed to jump on a giraffe and bite its neck. However, attacks on adult giraffes are still rare. More often, young animals become prey for lions, leopards, hyenas and wild dogs. Despite maternal protection, only 25-50% of young giraffes reach adulthood.

Giraffe and man

North African populations were already hunted in ancient times by the Greeks and Romans. Sometimes giraffes were even used for displays in the Colosseum. In general, the giraffe was little known in Europe. Although the constellation Giraffe exists in the northern hemisphere, it is a relatively new convention and has no mythological origin. In black Africa, giraffes were hunted by digging holes and traps. Their long sinews were used to string bows and string musical instruments; clothing made from giraffe skin served as a symbol of high status among many peoples. Giraffe meat is tough, but edible. The hunting of giraffes by African tribes has never reached a scale that could seriously threaten their numbers. With the arrival of white settlers, the main motive for hunting giraffes became entertainment, and the number of giraffes began to decline sharply. Today, giraffes are rare animals almost everywhere. Only in the states of East Africa do large populations still exist. Total number giraffes are estimated at 110,000-150,000. There are about 13 thousand individuals in the Serengeti reserve. In general, giraffes are not considered a critically endangered species. Today they are kept in many large zoos around the world and successfully breed in captivity.

Based on their patterns and places of origin, giraffes are divided into subspecies. Crossbreeding is possible between individual subspecies. There are nine modern subspecies:

• Nubian giraffe (G. c. camelopardalis) is the nominate subspecies. Inhabits eastern Sudan, western Ethiopia
• Giraffa camelopardalis peralta Thomas, 1898 - Kenya to Angola, the country after which it was named.

  Initially, subspecies of giraffes were considered independent species. Then this point of view was rejected, and scientists debated the delimitation of individual subspecies. There are often differences in pattern even within closely related herds. Therefore, some researchers were of the opinion that the characteristics of giraffe subspecies are not hereditary (and therefore, true geographical subspecies do not exist). In addition to the above subspecies, in North Africa in ancient times there were some subspecies that no longer exist today. Since some ancient Egyptian images show giraffes without spots, it has been suggested that the North African subspecies were uniformly colored and unpatterned. There are, however, also images of giraffes with spots that call such assumptions into question.

  Data

  Many of the pictures amazed me. But what really shocked me wasn't the work of art, it was... the giraffe. I was shocked to the core when I learned that there was such a creature on our planet. It happened at the zoo. I was 3 or 4 years old. At first I saw an elephant, but it did not surprise me: I probably already knew something about it. My parents and I approached big tree. And suddenly a giraffe with a long, very long neck came out from behind him. At that moment I thought: “What is this anyway?” I had never heard of giraffes before and was stunned. Even now I think about how strange giraffes are, they still fascinate me. And the thought that I live in the same universe as the giraffe makes me happy.

  Many people are interested in what kind of animal the giraffe is and where it lives, what it eats and how it reproduces. In this article, our team will tell you in detail about this animal.

  Appearance

  This species of mammal is the tallest living on the planet. globe. Like many other representatives of artiodactyls, the male is larger than the female.

  Its height ranges from 5-5 to 6-2 meters, and females from 4-6 to 5-8, respectively. You also need to pay attention to the fact that his height is greatly increased by his neck, which is 1.3 times the length of the giraffe’s entire body. Its weight ranges from 925-1250 kg.

  A few more words about the neck of our giant; in practice, we have always observed seven cervical vertebrae in most individuals of this species. It would seem like nothing special, if not for one thing, but! The giraffe also has seven of them, but given the length of its neck, it makes you wonder how this is possible.

  
  
  

  We have one explanation; nature foresaw everything in advance. Plus, the giraffe's body at one time suffered strong genetic changes. There is an opinion among scientists that it stretched out due to the fact that the animals fought with their necks against each other.

  Circulatory system and its features

  The size of the animal causes a lot of trouble circulatory system mammal and its heart. The whole point is to supply the brain with oxygen, you need to overcome a significant distance of the blood substance through the vessels.

  Personally, we were surprised when we learned that in one minute the heart of an African giraffe pumps more than 60 liters of blood. To put it mildly, not a very modest volume, especially if you imagine that these are 6 buckets of liquid, which are filled to capacity.

  His heart is strong and weighs more than 11 kilograms; it is capable of creating pressure several times greater than that of a person.

  However, even such powerful characteristics of the heart would not cope with the load if the animal sharply lowered and raised its head. Therefore, nature also provided this, so that it does not die from a cerebral hemorrhage; the giraffe’s blood has the thickest form with a significant number of blood cells in it.

  And that’s not all, in case the giant has valves in the large cervical artery that can lock and block the sharp pressure of blood rushing to the brain.

  This is interesting

  The size of a giraffe's tongue can surprise any person; it is more than 46 cm long, which it can release outwards. Its color is black, has a muscular structure and can easily break acacia branches.

  The upper part of the body is covered with patterns in the form of reddish spots, which for each representative have an individual location and shape, similar to human fingerprints.

  The lower part is unspotted and slightly lighter. At the very top of the head are two horns with blunt ends, and on the forehead there is a bony convex plate that may also resemble a third horn. The eyes are black, fringed with long and thick eyelashes, and the auditory conchas are short.

  
  
  
  
  

  It should be noted that our hero has excellent vision, smell and hearing. A potential threat to his life and health can be detected 1 kilometer away and have time to leave the dangerous place.

  Animals of Africa The giraffe can reach speeds for short distances of up to 57 km/h, thereby gradually moving into a gallop. This means he is capable of outpacing a professional racing horse competing in international racing. Animals because of their thin legs and heavy weight are not able to walk through swampy places, and rivers are not at all surmountable obstacles for them.

  An interesting note is the fact that, with such body weight and height, he can jump over obstacles of more than 1 meter and 90 centimeters in height.

  Habitat

  Today, giraffes are widespread in the southern and eastern-southern parts of the Sahara Desert. These places are considered to be:

  • East Africa;
  • South Africa;

  In the northern part of the desert, the population was completely exterminated by humanity in ancient times. During ancient Egypt, they were common in the delta along the Nile River and on the Mediterranean coast. In the twentieth century, their range declined again. The most populated places where you can meet the spotted giant are nature reserves and reserves.

  Nutrition

  Animals prefer only plant foods; he especially loves to eat acacia leaves. The giraffe is the tallest animal and thanks to its height, it deftly releases its long tongue, embraces the branch and throws its head back, thereby emptying the branch of leaves. He can eat up to 30 kilograms of vegetation per day.

  It receives water from plants and can go without water for several weeks. If he still wants to drink enough, he is forced to spread his legs wide so that his head can touch the base of the reservoir. In one sitting he is able to drink up to 40 liters of water. But the animal is very vulnerable at this time and he engages in this procedure when he is convinced that he is not in danger.

  Lifestyle

  African giants can lead a solitary, gregarious lifestyle that does not bind them to each other. They can travel up to one hundred kilometers in search of food. Females prefer to live from 4 to 35 individuals in a herd. They have no leaders, there are only elders who have some weight among the younger generation.

  You can also see a young giraffe wandering with the herd:

  This makes him feel safe. Because when two tall males meet, it almost always leads to a fight. If a fight cannot be avoided, then two opponents stand against each other and try to headbutt the opponent’s neck.

  It is noteworthy but true that after a defeat, the opponent does not drive the loser out of the herd, as other types of social animals do.

  He sleeps from ten minutes to 2 hours a day. They can sleep standing and lying down. It’s interesting, but no one has yet been able to fix a natural posture during sleep.

  Reproduction

  Wild giraffe animal during mating season behaves extremely aggressively towards other males. As a result, a conflict of a physical nature occurs, in which a weak opponent may receive injuries incompatible with life.

  

  The most dangerous blows that can cause injury are a downward strike with both legs. This can be compared to chopping wood, when an ax in a person’s hands flies onto a stump. There are several animals that will lure using similar tactics:

  • Moose;
  • Roe deer;
  • Deer;

  Many people naively believe that the giraffe does not have a voice, but they are forced to disappoint such people. Animals can talk to each other by making sounds at a certain frequency from 20 Hz.

  Animals mate from July to September. The female carries the fetus for 13 to 15 months. There are 1 rarely 2 cubs in a litter. The most severe test for a fetus is flying from a height of 2 meters after birth.

  Its height is up to 2 meters in height, and its weight does not exceed 55 kg. A little time will pass, about three hours, and he will stand firmly on his legs. Then he begins to frolic, and after three weeks he joins the herd. She will stay with her mother until she is one and a half years old.

  Lifespan

  On average, the giraffe animal lives on earth for no more than 30 years. But there were individuals who could live longer. Mostly these are long-livers who live in zoos or special areas.