The giraffe (Giraffa Camelopardalis) or giraffe is the only representative of a separate genus and family of antelopes and is distinguished by a long neck, long legs, a high, short and strongly sloping body, therefore extremely unique general structure of your body.
The giraffe's head is of a remarkably strange shape, equipped with large eyes and two inconspicuous horns covered with fur. Thanks to these horns, the giraffe is mainly considered a representative of a special family: they consist inside of bone, completely separated from the skull and fused with it only later.
In this, the horns of giraffes differ very significantly from the horns of bovid ruminants, as well as from the horns of deer; most likely they can be compared to the horns of the pronghorn found in North America.
In addition to the horns, the giraffe’s head has a special bump in the middle of its forehead, which no other mammal has - it is considered the third horn. Finally, the giraffe skull has one more feature, namely: the plane of the forehead and face is significantly higher than the eyes. If you look at the photo of the giraffe, you can see this very clearly.
Other features of the giraffe include the absence of upper fangs, large pointed ears, large slit-like nostrils that close at the animal’s request, a long tongue that protrudes far and turns into a strong grasping organ, a short erect mane, a relatively long tail with a brush at the end, and the absence of lateral hooves on large and clumsy legs and, finally, a peculiar coloring.
Types of giraffe
There are two types of giraffe distinguished by color. The northern giraffe is marked on a chestnut-brown background with thin and wide network stripes yellow; in the South African giraffe the stripes of this network are much wider; we can say that this species has irregular brown spots scattered on a light yellow background. The head is a uniform yellowish-brown color, the mane is chestnut-brown and the tail brush is black, while the underside and inner side and the lower ends of the legs.
The giraffe also differs from all other mammals by its peculiar pattern; in addition, it surpasses them all in height, since the male is 5.5-5.8 m high from the sole of the front legs to the top of the head, the female is only 30-60 cm shorter.
Similarities with other animals
The giraffe is most likely related to deer, which are completely absent in sub-Saharan Africa, and, like them, it does not have a gall bladder, differing in this from bovid ruminants. The giraffe is now found exclusively in that part of Africa that lies south of the Sahara, but before it was found in Africa wherever there were deserts with lonely tall trees.
Food and drink
The fact is that the giraffe antelope is adapted to feeding on tree foliage: it can only bend down with difficulty, rarely nibbles grass and drinks even less often, so in some areas it remains without water for 7 or 8 months.
When drinking, a giraffe must either spread its front legs to the sides, or put one leg forward and the other back; but plucking leaves and thin branches of tall acacias is very easy for giraffes. Look at the photo of the giraffe when he drinks.
The animal itself extremely closely resembles, from a distance, the old weathered trunk of such an umbrella-shaped acacia tree: the resemblance is so striking that not only the sharp and habitual eye of the hunter, but even the natives often make mistakes and mistake the giraffe for the trunk of an acacia tree or vice versa.
Camouflage and protection
In addition, the peculiar coloring of the animal perfectly matches the shadow of the tree, cast on the ground and dotted with spots from passing through the foliage sun rays, - this increases the animal’s ability to hide among its surroundings to an even greater extent.
The only way a giraffe can defend itself from attacks from enemies is with strong blows their front legs, which males also use during collisions with each other; The giraffe is helped to avoid predators by its acute vision and hearing, as well as the high position of its head, which allows it to view the surroundings over an extremely long distance.
Often the giraffe has to flee, and he raises his tail, twisted in a helical shape, above his back and tilts his neck slightly forward; His running is extremely peculiar and resembles a clumsy gallop.
When running, the hind legs are spread apart and placed in front of the front legs with each step; from behind it seems as if the animals are rushing without making any movements themselves. Giraffes run so fast that it takes a very good horse to catch up; nevertheless, giraffes are usually hunted on horseback. Giraffe meat is very tasty, and the skin is valued at 40 to 50 rubles.
Giraffe hunt
Every hunter who has had to rush after a rushing herd of giraffes will probably agree that the giraffe is not at all ugly, but is one of the most beautiful animals, and the herd running from the hunters, usually consisting of 12-16, and sometimes even more than 100 heads, presents a most amazing spectacle. Every year, however, it becomes more difficult to obtain the opportunity to hunt a giraffe, and there is no doubt that in the near future this hunt will be one of the rarest pleasures.
In many areas where the giraffe was previously common, it has now been exterminated; when it was already a relatively rare animal, the number of giraffes in many areas has decreased even more.
At the beginning of the 20th century, giraffes were still quite numerous in a wide area south of the Zambezi River, and in some parts of the Kalahari Desert they were even common and found in abundance in sandy areas.
Now the giraffe lives mainly in the center and southern Africa, in the most impenetrable parts of the Kalahari, in the north - in the desert areas of Kordofan and in the deserts of Sudan, but neither from South nor from North Africa are currently brought to us any more giraffes to any significant amount.
Giraffes in captivity
Previously, live giraffes were often brought to Europe, where they survive well in zoological gardens and often reproduce. It turns out, based on observations of giraffes in captivity, that animals mate in March or early April, pregnancy lasts 431-444 days and only one giraffe calf is born, which after three days can follow the mother.
Many people ask what is the name of a baby giraffe, but this is what they call a “baby giraffe.”
Currently, most zoos in the world are home to many giraffes.
Watch the video with the giraffe.
Watch the birth of a giraffe here:
Read more about African animals, for example.
The giraffe is certainly a very beautiful animal, graceful, the tallest animal on planet Earth.
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 Gumilyov - 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 end up being “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 wildlife Life expectancy is about 25 years, in captivity about 35.
Due to its size, the giraffe has little natural enemies, and from those few predators that dare to attack him, he defends himself quite effectively with blows from his 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 strings 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. The total number of giraffes is estimated at 110,000-150,000. There are about 13 thousand individuals in the Serengeti Nature 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.
Facts
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.
Giraffes are the tallest living animals, which, combined with their bright spotted coloring and unusual body proportions, makes them absolutely recognizable.
Taxonomy
Latin name - Giraffa camelopardalis
English name - Giraffe
Order Artiodactyla (Artiodactyla)
Giraffe family (Giraffidae)
There are 9 subspecies of giraffe, the zoo contains 2 of them:
reticulated giraffe (Giraffa camelopardalis reticulata) - range red
South African giraffe (Giraffa camelopardalis giraffa) - blueConservation status of the species
The giraffe is listed in the International Red Book as a species of least concern - IUCN(LC).
Species and man
Until the arrival of Europeans in Africa, giraffes lived in the savannas of almost the entire continent. The local population hunted them, but not actively, and everything was used: the meat was used for food, shields were made from skins, strings for musical instruments were made from tendons, and bracelets were made from tail tassels from hair. The first white settlers exterminated giraffes mainly for the sake of their skins, from which they made leather for the top of Boer carts, belts and whips. Later, during safari, rich European hunters, having fun, killed many of these magnificent animals, and only the tails with tassels served as trophies. As a result of such barbarity, the number of giraffes has almost halved over the last two centuries.
Currently, giraffes are rarely hunted, however, their numbers in central Africa continue to decline, mainly due to the destruction of natural landscapes.
The giraffe is a peace-loving animal; it gets along well with humans and is one of the symbols of the African savannah.
Long-necked animals appeared in zoos in Egypt and Rome around 1500 BC. e. The first giraffes arrived in London, Paris and Berlin in the 20s of the 19th century, and they were transported on sailing ships and walked across Europe. The animals were covered from bad weather with special raincoats, and leather sandals were put on their feet so that they would not wear off their hooves. Giraffes are now kept in almost all major zoos in the world and reproduce well in captivity.
Range and habitats
African continent. They live south of the Sahara in savannas and sparse dry forests.Appearance, features of morphology and physiology
The appearance of the giraffe is so unique that it cannot be confused with any other animal: a relatively small head on a disproportionately long neck, a sloping back, long legs. The giraffe is the tallest living mammal: its height from the ground to the forehead reaches 4.8–5.8 m, the height at the withers is 3 m, while the length of the body is only 2.5 m! The weight of an adult male is about 800 kg, females are smaller and weigh 550–600 kg. On the forehead of both males and females there are small horns covered with hair. Usually there is one pair, but sometimes two. In the middle of the forehead, many giraffes have a small bony outgrowth that resembles an additional unpaired horn.
The coloring of animals in different parts of the range varies greatly, which served as the basis for zoologists to identify 9 subspecies. However, even within the same subspecies it is impossible to find two completely identically colored giraffes: the spotted pattern is unique, like a fingerprint. Young animals are always a little lighter than older ones. The spots scattered across the giraffe's body imitate the play of shadow and light in the tree crowns and perfectly camouflage giraffes among the trees.
At first glance, outwardly awkward, giraffes are in fact perfectly adapted to life in the savannah: they see far and hear perfectly.
Giraffes usually move at a smooth pace, ambling (first both right legs are in motion, then both left legs). Only in cases of extreme necessity do giraffes switch to an awkward, seemingly slow gallop, but they maintain such a gait for no more than 2–3 minutes. A galloping giraffe constantly nods deeply, bowing with each jump, since it can simultaneously lift both front legs off the ground, only by throwing its neck and head far back and thus shifting its center of gravity. The animal looks extremely clumsy while running, but reaches speeds of up to 50 km/h.
For a long time, the giraffe, due to its unusual body structure, presented a mystery to physiologists. The heart of this animal is 2 m above the hooves and almost 3 m below the head. This means that, on the one hand, a significant column of blood presses on the vessels of the legs, which should lead to swelling of the legs, on the other hand, significant efforts are required to lift the blood to the brain. How does the giraffe's body cope with these problems? The lower part of the animal's limbs is tightened with a thick layer of subcutaneous connective tissue, which forms a dense stocking that presses on the walls of the blood vessels from the outside. The powerful heart of a giraffe creates a pressure of 300 mmHg. Art., which is 3 times higher than in humans. When approaching the brain, due to gravitational forces, the pressure of the bloodstream decreases, and in the giraffe’s head it is maintained at the same level as in other mammals. When the giraffe's head is raised, valves located in the jugular vein prevent blood from flowing out too quickly. When the giraffe lowers its head and the brain is 2 m below the heart, the pressure in it remains the same (90–100 mm Hg) due to the original structure of the blood vessels. Valves in the walls of the jugular vein prevent blood from returning to the brain, and a special network of elastic arteries located at the base of the skull delays it as it approaches the brain.
The long neck of the giraffe creates an even greater problem for breathing, they are forced to breathe more often than would be expected from such large animals: the respiratory rate of an adult giraffe at rest reaches 20 breaths per minute, while in humans it is only 12–15.
Lifestyle and social organization
Giraffes are diurnal animals. They usually feed in the morning and in the afternoon, and spend the hottest hours half asleep, standing in the shade of acacia trees. At this time, giraffes chew cud, their eyes are half-closed, but their ears are in constant motion. Giraffes get real sleep at night. Then they lie down on the ground, tucking their front legs and one of their hind legs under them, and place their head on the other hind leg, extended to the side (the extended hind leg allows the giraffe to quickly rise if danger approaches). The long neck turns out to be curved back like an arch. This sleep is often interrupted, the animals get up, then lie down again. The total duration of complete deep sleep in adult animals is amazingly small: it does not exceed 20 minutes throughout the night!
More often, giraffes are found in groups. Adult females, adolescents and young animals are united in groups, the number of which rarely exceeds 20 individuals. The composition of such associations is not constant, animals join or leave them at will, a strong connection is observed only between females and their restless babies. In open spaces, animals often form groups; when grazing in forests, they disperse.
Group sizes also depend on the season of the year. At the height of the dry season, when there is less food, giraffes disperse across the savannah in small groups, at most 4-5 individuals. On the contrary, during the rainy season, when it is easier to feed, 10–15 animals unite.
Adult males move actively, covering up to 20 km a day in search of receptive females, and are often alone. The largest male in a given territory seeks to monopolize access to females. If another male gets in his way, the dominant takes a characteristic pose with his neck stretched vertically and his front legs tense, pointed towards the opponent. If he does not think to retreat, then a duel begins, where the main weapon turns out to be the neck. The animals strike each other with loud blows with their heads, aiming them at the enemy’s belly. The defeated animal retreats, the dominant pursues the loser at a distance of several meters, and then freezes in a victorious pose with its tail raised up.
Nutrition and feeding behavior
Giraffes graze for 12–14 hours a day, preferring dawn or dusk when the heat is not so intense. They are called “pluckers” because giraffes feed on foliage, flowers, young shoots of trees and shrubs, finding food at a height of 2 to 6 meters. They bend over for grass in exceptional cases, when young shoots sprout wildly after heavy rains. No matter what part of Africa giraffes graze, they prefer acacias, diversifying their menu with another 40–60 species of woody plants. Giraffes survive severe periods of drought by eating the tough leaves of drought-resistant plants, as well as fallen leaves and dry pods of acacia trees.
Giraffes have a unique oral apparatus. The lips are equipped with long hairs, from which information about the presence of spines and the degree of maturity of the leaves is sent to the brain through nerve canals. The purple tongue of the giraffe, flexible, strong and extremely mobile, reaches a length of 46 cm. When grazing, it slips past the thorns, curls into a groove, wraps around the branches with the youngest and most delicious leaves and pulls them up to the level of the upper lip. The inner edges of the lips are covered with papillae, which help the animal hold the desired plant in its mouth: the giraffe cuts it off with the incisors of the lower jaw. The giraffe pulls smooth branches through its mouth, where there is free space (diastema) between the premolars and fangs, tearing off all the leaves with its lips.
Like other ruminants, giraffes increase the digestibility of their feed by repeated chewing. In addition, they have the unique ability to chew food while on the move, which allows them to significantly increase their grazing time.
The giraffe eats relatively little for its size. Adult males consume about 66 kg of fresh greens every day, females - about 58 kg.
Since giraffes' food consists of 70% water, they do not need frequent watering, but if available clean water, they drink it willingly. In some places, giraffes eat the soil, replenishing the lack of mineral salts in the body.
The relationship between giraffes and acacias, their main food, deserves special attention. For millions of years, there was an evolutionary “arms race” between them, during which both sides developed adaptations and counter-adaptations. On the one hand, there are sharp spines, thorns and hooks, as well as a high content of tannins - toxic substances that have a pungent taste. On the other hand, there is a virtuoso tongue, very thick saliva, special substances secreted by the liver, and the ability to recognize leaves in which the concentration of toxic substances is highest. And the black acacia, especially loved by giraffes, has even adapted to reproduce with the help of giraffes! At the end of the dry season, the acacia tree is covered with creamy white flowers, which cannot leave indifferent giraffes, for whom these flowers are a very attractive source nutrients. The leaves of the black acacia are protected by sharp thorns, but the flowers are defenseless. Giraffes, eating these delicacies at a height of 4 meters, each time dust their heads and necks with pollen and spread it to dozens of trees, walking up to 20 km a day. Thus, for acacia, the loss of some flowers and buds is compensated by the spread of pollen and guaranteed pollination of the remaining flowers by giraffes.
Vocalization
For a long time it was believed that giraffes were voiceless. But in fact, they have a completely normal vocal apparatus, and they can make a whole range of different sounds. When in danger, giraffes snore, releasing air through their nostrils. Males that are excited or have grappled with an opponent emit a hoarse cough or growl. It happens that adult giraffes, having reached the height of excitement, roar loudly. Frightened cubs scream subtly and plaintively, without opening their lips.
Reproduction and raising of offspring
Giraffes do not have a specific breeding season. Adult males move from one group to another, sniffing females and determining their readiness to mate. The largest and strongest males participate in reproduction. Pregnancy in giraffes lasts more than a year (15 months), after which one calf is born; twins are extremely rare. The baby, about two meters tall and weighing 70 kg, falls at birth from a height of two meters, since the female does not lie down during childbirth. She can retire behind the trees, but does not stray far from the group. Like all ungulates, a newborn tries to stand on its legs a few minutes after birth, and half an hour later it tastes its mother’s milk. The baby giraffe develops quickly, and after a week he is already running and jumping no worse than an adult animal. At the age of two weeks, the baby begins to try plant foods, but the mother feeds him milk for a whole year. She selflessly protects the cub from lions and hyenas, but, nevertheless, about half of the giraffes become prey to predators during the first year of life.
The cubs leave their mother at about 16 months of age.
A female giraffe gives birth to her first calf when she is 5 years old. If conditions are favorable, she will produce offspring every 18 months for up to 20 years. Males begin to reproduce at an older age.
Lifespan
In captivity, giraffes live up to 25 years (the record is 28 years), in the wild - less.
Giraffes at the Moscow Zoo
On the old territory of the zoo there is the “Giraffe House”, where everyone’s favorite, Samson Hamletovich Leningradov, lives. This is the only animal in the zoo with this full name. Samson was born in the Leningrad Zoo in 1993 (hence his surname) and came to us at the age of three. Good-natured, peace-loving, he enjoys communicating with people.
Samson's favorite food is willow leaves, which he eats from branches suspended high in the enclosure. He eats hay or grass from a feeder, which is also located at a four-meter height. Even its automatic drinking bowl is raised by 2 meters. Samson is fed 3 times a day: in the morning he receives hay, branches and about 3 kg of rolled oats. During the day, they provide succulent food: vegetables and fruits (potatoes, carrots, beets, apples, bananas), which must be cut, otherwise the animal may choke. Samson first chooses bananas, apples and carrots, but by the evening he eats everything. At night, add hay to the feeder and give branches again. The branches are placed indoors, so sometimes, when you come to the zoo in the evening, you may not see Samson in the outdoor enclosure - he has gone off to eat his favorite willow.
From late autumn until spring, about once a month, Samson is given a shower - watered with a hose. He becomes very animated - he runs around the enclosure, funnyly throwing up his long legs. In the summer, Samson washes in the rain: he likes the warm, light rain, but during a downpour he hurries to take shelter under the roof.
Samson belongs to the subspecies of reticulated giraffes, and in the New Territory of the zoo in the “Ungulates of Africa” pavilion you can see a giraffe of another, South African subspecies that came from Kenya. In summer the animal walks in the fresh air, and in winter it is kept indoors. This is a female, her daily routine is the same as Samson’s, but she was born in the wild and therefore is not so sociable (trusting) with people. She spends most of her time at her feeders, but sometimes grazes on the grass growing in the clearing. At the same time, the long-necked and long-legged animal spreads its front legs wide and crouches funny. She is very peaceful towards zebras and an ostrich, her neighbors in the enclosure, and sometimes even plays with them, going for short runs.
The giraffe is the tallest representative of the mammalian order. Thanks to its long neck, it can notice a creeping predator in time. Although giraffes are not aggressive, sometimes they manage to win a fight to the death even with a lion.
Giraffes occupy a territory in the savannas of sub-Saharan Africa. They live in small herds of 40 - 70 individuals. Their main diet consists of leaves and buds of trees, especially acacias.
Giraffes are very careful animals. They have well-developed vision and hearing. Thanks to its long neck, it has the ability to observe large area and spotting predators early.
Sometimes adult giraffes are attacked by leopards, but there is only one predator that has a chance to deal with a healthy giraffe - the lion. The most reliable method of protection for a giraffe is flight. But in exceptional cases, he can defend himself from an attacker by hitting the aggressor with his hoof.
Giraffes have characteristic rounded bony protrusions on their heads covered with skin, which, depending on the species, can be 2-5 cm long. Males use them during skirmishes for dominance in the herd. During the fights, the animals butt each other with horns and intertwine their necks. Such skirmishes never lead to injuries, since the horns are rounded at the ends and are not too dangerous. After the fight, the loser moves aside and no longer bothers the winner.
The height of a giraffe at birth is 1.8 - 2 meters. The cub weighs from 50 to 55 kg. A few hours after birth, he is already quite firmly on his legs and can follow his mother.
Giraffes are not an endangered species. Their number is estimated at 110 - 150 thousand. individuals.
- Kenya - 45,000 giraffes;
- Tanzania - 30,000 giraffes;
- Botswana - 12,000 giraffes.
Did you know that...
- Albinos are common among giraffes.
- The animal can cover a short distance at a speed of 50 km/h.
- A giraffe's front legs are longer than its hind legs.
- The giraffe's tongue is very long and can reach 50 cm.
- The method of obtaining food differs between males and females. Males reach the highest branches, while females predominantly eat leaves from low bushes.
- Despite its extremely long neck, the giraffe has only seven cervical vertebrae, just like other mammals. They are just more elongated.
- The giraffe's spine consists of 24 vertebrae.
Giraffe: interesting facts, photos and brief description to compile a report or presentation for children in grades 2-3-4.
Habitat
The giraffe is the tallest representative of the animal world. Giraffes live in the savannas of Africa. Due to the fault of man, a significant part of them was exterminated, so today they can no longer be found north of the Sahara. Nature reserves and reserves today have become the places where they are most concentrated.
Appearance
First of all, the giraffe is distinguished by its growth and coloring. Its height on average reaches 5.5 meters. The skin is covered with characteristic dark brown spots. At the giraffe long neck, on the head there are two woolen horns, each 20 centimeters long. Weight adult is about 900 kilograms. The giraffe's eyes are black, with very thick eyelashes. The giraffe also has a small tail relative to its body size, which resembles a brush.
Reproduction and lifespan
The female giraffe carries the baby for about 14-15 months. A young giraffe is born weighing 50 kilograms and 1.5 meters tall. An hour after birth, the cub stands on its legs. Very soon the baby will be ready to run. For the first 13 months, his mother feeds him milk. However, starting from two weeks of age, a small giraffe can eat plant foods.
In the wild, giraffes live approximately 25 years.
Behavior and nutrition
Giraffes feed exclusively on food plant origin. Their height allows them to easily reach the highest branches of trees. It is much more difficult for a giraffe to eat plants from the ground. It's very difficult for him to bend over. This also applies to the watering process. An adult giraffe needs to drink at least 35 liters of water daily.
Giraffes prefer to live in small groups or alone. In case of danger, this “oversized” animal is capable of reaching speeds of up to 55 km/h. Predators rarely show interest in giraffes, since the latter are able to respond to the offender.