The giraffe lives almost throughout sub-Saharan Africa. The appearance of this animal is so unusual that it is difficult to confuse it with any other animal. The first thing almost everyone has is the question: "What is the growth of a giraffe?"
This mammal is the highest of all the animals known today. The height of the giraffe from soil to forehead reaches 6 meters! The weight of an adult male exceeds 1 ton. The female is a little lighter.
The height of the neck and head of the giraffe separately from the body reaches 3 meters. He has quite expressive eyes, pubescent with thick eyelashes. The ears of the animal are small and narrow.
On the forehead of both sexes there are horns covered with wool. The coloring of the tallest mammal varies greatly. Scientists note that there are no two giraffes with the same color. The spot-shaped pattern is as unique as a fingerprint.
The main color background of the giraffe is yellowish red. On it in a chaotic form are chocolate brown spots. Young giraffes always have a lighter color than adults. Sometimes white giraffes are found. But this is very rare. They live in Kenya and northern Tanzania.
Giraffe Eating
It is no coincidence that the height of the giraffe (including the neck and head) is compared with the height of a two-story house. The long neck of an outlandish beast is the result of evolution. She is the first assistant to the giraffe in the extraction of feed. The animal easily takes leaves from the tallest trees: wild apricot, acacia and mimosa.
In addition, the giraffe has a rather long tongue - 50 centimeters. Animals seldom spread on grass. After all, the height of the giraffe (including the neck and head) is 6 meters! This makes him widely spread his front legs, and sometimes even kneel down. In about this position, a tall animal drinks water from a reservoir. True, a giraffe can do without water for several weeks, replacing it with a juicy wet food.
Giraffes in the herd
These animals form herds from 15 to 50 individuals. Often a group of giraffes combines with zebras, ostriches and antelopes. But this is a short-lived community. The growth of a giraffe obliges other fellow tribesmen to bow their heads before it.
Despite their peace of mind, giraffes sometimes enter into a kind of duel among themselves. But at the end of the fight, the defeated giraffe is not expelled from the herd, as is customary for other animals. The six-meter height of the giraffe (including the neck and head), suggests that the mammal is awkward. But in reality, this animal is perfectly adapted to exist in the savannah.
Giraffe Facts
High growth allows the animal to see far. Giraffes are considered daytime creatures.
In the morning they eat, and spend the second half of the day in a pleasant nap, periodically chewing gum. At night, giraffes have a full sleep. They lie on the ground, squeeze the forelimbs and one of the hind legs under themselves.
The head is laid on the other hind limb, elongated to the side. In this position, the height of the giraffe, including the head and neck, reaches about 3.5 m. Even in the sitting position, the animal looks high.
The mating season in giraffes begins in July and lasts until September. The pregnancy of the female lasts about 450 days. A newborn baby weighs approximately 70 kg. The height of the giraffe, including the neck and head, is almost 2 meters. During childbirth, a herd of giraffes surrounds a fellow tribeswoman, protecting her from possible danger.
Predators and Giraffe
In addition to answering the question “What is the height of the giraffe, including the neck and head?”, You can find out if it has enemies. In the wild, only lions dare to hunt the tallest animal. Predators manage to defeat the giraffe when they are in the pride.
If the lion alone dares to trap the giant, then it may fail. An employee of one of the national parks witnessed a similar incident. The predator was about to jump on the back of a giraffe to eat his neck vertebrae.
But during the jump, the lion missed and was hit by the strongest blows of a giraffe's hooves right in the chest. Seeing that the lion is not moving, an eyewitness came closer: the chest of the predator was crushed. So the peace-loving giraffe was able to fend for itself!
Interesting Facts
Curiously, people mostly ask: "What is the height of the giraffe?" But only a few fans of the majestic beast are interested in other information. For example, the heart of a giraffe weighs more than 12 kilograms!
With such a mass, it passes through itself about 60 liters of blood. This leads to very high pressure in the animal. Therefore, abrupt movements when lowering and raising the head are unfavorable for the giraffe.
Despite its high growth, a magnificent animal can develop speed when galloping for more than 55 kilometers per hour. This is a good opportunity for a giraffe to overtake a racehorse when running small distances. But in fact, an unusual animal moves imposingly, rearranging in turn both front and rear limbs.
By the way, the legs of a giraffe are thin. This allows the animal to move only on a flat surface. Interestingly, giraffes can jump overcoming obstacles of 1.5-2 meters.
Scientists believe that the tallest animal is not nomadic. Like many other species, giraffes stay within a clearly defined territory. It has been observed that outside their possessions the animals look alarmed.
Male giraffes during the mating season do not tolerate rivals in their area. If the animal notices a competitor, then it takes a threatening pose, which is characterized by stretching the head up and a strained numb neck. Such a measure is usually sufficient for the opponent to leave.
In an extreme case, giraffes butt each other. But such battles are safe. Animals lazily push each other, shaking their long necks. In most cases, the owner manages to drive away the alien giraffe.
Small waterbirds are quite frequent guests on the neck of giraffes. They seek out on the skin of animal giants the larvae of flies, ticks and eat them. Waterbirds are a kind of sanitary aid for a giraffe in the African steppes.
