Giraffe
As the calf grows older, the mother leaves it in a crèche with other youngsters. One or two giraffe mothers baby sit while the others take a break to eat and socialise. With their long, spindly legs and over arching necks, giraffes are the world’s tallest mammals. They can easily peek into a second-floor window!
A male giraffe is about 5.5 metres (18 feet) tall while a female is about 1.2 m (four feet) shorter. The long legs allow giraffes to sprint short distances at 56 km an hour. About one-third the height of the giraffe is the neck. It contains the same number of bones — seven — as human beings but each vertebra is more than 25 cm long. The neck makes the giraffe a natural look out in the vast open savannah it inhabits in Africa. Other herbivores such as zebra and antelope, gather around giraffes while feeding, because they feel safe in their company.
One would expect that its height and size would deter any predator, but giraffes are attacked by lions and crocodiles. Babies are especially vulnerable. Adult giraffes are most at risk when they are drinking water because they have to assume an awkward posture, with their legs spread out wide and their necks stretched out low. This is why giraffes try to get as much water as they can from their food.
They typically eat the tender leaves and buds of the acacia tree. The acacia has nasty thorns specifically evolved to tackle giraffes, but the animals have a trick up their sleeves —their tongues! The purple-black tongue is around 46 cm long and the lips are prehensile (capable of grasping). A giraffe bypasses the thorns and curls its tongue and lips around the leaves beyond and pulls them off with consummate ease.
Long, outrageously thick eyelashes protect its eyes. In case it swallows a thorn, a giraffe’s thick, sticky saliva coats it to prevent any harm.
Giraffes have beautiful spotted coats and each giraffe has a distinctive pattern like a human fingerprint. They have a smallish hump on their backs. This and their spotted coat gave their species the scientific name camelopardalis which means camel-leopard!
Fact File:
◆ A giraffe has a peculiar gait, in which both the front and back legs on one side move forward at the same time.
◆ Its closest relative is the okapi, a short zebra-like African mammal.
◆ Both male and female giraffes have a pair of hair-covered horns called ossicones. Babies are born with soft horns that lie flat against their heads.
◆ If they have to, giraffes can send predators flying with a deadly karate-style kick.
◆ Giraffes only need 5–30 minutes of sleep.
◆ They can moo, roar, snort, hiss, and grunt but do so rarely.
