Young children often perplex parents with their non-standard questions. How much does an elephant or a whale weigh? Who is stronger - a rhino or a lion? How do giraffes sleep? Most often, adults themselves do not know the answer to them, because they have safely forgotten the school curriculum, and in adult life such information can be of little use to anyone. But the children's inquiring mind only cognizes the picture of the world, it absorbs new knowledge, like a sponge. Little researchers are interested in literally everything, even the fact that an adult will never come to mind. This article is dedicated to one of the most popular children's burning questions, namely: "How do giraffes sleep?" At the same time, we will consider other interesting facts related to these graceful animals.
What position does the giraffe sleep in?
In the fifties of the last century, scientists at the Frankfurt Zoo studied the conditions and duration of sleep of various pets: elephants, lions and others. When the turn reached the tallest animals in the world, very stunning facts were discovered. About an hour after the zoo closed, at nightfall, when the last employees left the pavilion, these animals, after a day of standing and walking, fell to the floor. First, the giraffes bent their front legs and one back under the stomach, and the second hind leg was pulled to the side. They changed them periodically during the night. In this case, the neck of the animal remained upright. The giraffes were either lying quietly or chewing gum. Sometimes they froze, from time to time they moved their ears, the eyelids very slowly fell into their eyes, but after a few minutes they opened again. When it was completely dark, the animals bent the neck from the steering wheel from side to back, while the giraffe's nose touched the floor near the ankle of his hind leg, the lower jaw appeared near the lower leg. The head alternately dropped to the left, then to the right leg. Scientists only wondered how such a huge, and, it would seem, awkward animal can be as deftly as an experienced yogi, curl up. Their cubs fit exactly the same way. For those who are interested in how giraffes sleep, the photo below will fully demonstrate this process. Now consider the following interesting fact associated with these representatives of the animal world.
How many giraffes sleep?
Children usually do not ask such a question, however, since we have begun to deal with these spotted giants, then for this general development we can also find out this fact. Now, telling your child how giraffes sleep, you can enlighten him about the duration of this process. It turns out that these animals do not know how to sleep for a long time. Their usual state at night is half-asleep. How long does it last, scientists could not determine exactly, since it was not possible to fix the beginning and end of the process. Giraffes have never lain all night long. About once every two to three hours, one or the other, the animal rose to its feet. They walked around, celebrated their need, fed themselves. Young animals stood up more often than adults. Nevertheless, researchers were able to establish that from time to time these creatures are able to fall into a full deep sleep. It lasts only from one to twelve minutes. With the dawn, the animals are again on their feet, so as not to go to bed before dusk. We examined how much a giraffe sleeps per day, how it does it, and now we will get acquainted with other features and facts associated with these curious artiodactyls.
general information
The drawing on the body of the giraffe consists of an abundance of dark spots that stand out on a lighter base color. This ornament in each individual is individual, like fingerprints in humans. On the head of the giraffe is a pair of wool-covered horns, thickened at the ends. Sometimes animals with two pairs are found. In the middle of the forehead there is often a kind of ossified outgrowth, it is often mistaken for another horn. The giraffe's ears are short, his eyes are bordered with long, thick eyelashes. These mammals have excellent hearing, vision and smell, which, along with high growth, allows them to notice the danger in time. The giraffe can see its relatives even at a distance of more than one kilometer.
Parametric data
An adult individual (male) reaches a height of six meters, and the weight does not reach a ton a little. Newborn babies weigh one hundred kilograms and reach a height of one and a half meters. An hour after giving birth, the giraffe gets to its feet. The heart of the highest land animal also has significant parameters. Its weight is 11-12 kilograms, the length can reach 60 centimeters, and the wall - six centimeters. The giraffe’s tongue is striking in its size. Its length can reach up to 45 cm. It can even clean their ears! Every day, these animals consume up to 30 kg of food. They spend from 16 to 20 hours a day doing this. As you can see, for developing babies (as well as for adults), not only the question of how giraffes sleep, but also other, no less curious facts may be interesting.
And only the wind whistles
With its enormous size and decent weight, the giraffe, it turns out, is very deftly running. In case of urgent need, he can run at a gallop, developing a speed of up to 55 km / h. In fact, at a short distance he drives a racehorse. In a calm state, these spotted giants walk slowly, moving alternately the right and then the left pairs of legs. The length of such a step is approximately eight meters. Moreover, giraffes can not only run, but also jump. These seemingly clumsy and bulky creatures are able to overcome barriers up to two meters high.
What do giraffes eat?
These African giants are exclusively herbivores. The physiology and structure of the body allow them to eat foliage from tree crowns - in this matter they have no equal, they will get food at such a height that no one else can get in life! Of the diversity of woody vegetation, giraffes prefer acacia. The animal covers the branch with a long tongue, after which it pulls it to the mouth and plucks the leaves, pulling its head. The lips and tongue are arranged in such a way that they are not even damaged by prickly twigs. Basically, the need for fluid in giraffes is covered by food. As a result, these artiodactyls can do without water for several weeks, i.e., much longer than camels. However, if they still find life-giving moisture, then they can drink almost 40 liters of liquid at a time.
Do you know?..
Now we’ll tell you something else interesting about giraffes. These inhabitants of the African savannah got their name from the Arabic word "zarafa", which means "smart". By the way, this is the only animal in the world that is born with horns. Most people think that giraffes are voiceless creatures. However, this is not at all true. It turns out that they communicate well with each other, just the sounds that they make are at frequencies below 20 Hz. And as you know, this range is inaccessible to human hearing. An interesting way is the birth of babies in giraffes. The fact is that this process occurs in a standing position, as a result, the cub falls to the ground from a height of two meters. And finally, we give one more curious fact: it turns out that the neck of this animal contains only seven vertebrae - the same amount as in humans. Interesting, isn't it?
