One of the most interesting residents African savannah - 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 solid plains 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. Mating season animals fall 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.

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Majestic, amazing, tall and extraordinary animals - giraffes. They got their name from Arabic - “gathering”. So in Africa, where giraffes live, l...

From Masterweb

22.04.2018 02:00

Majestic, amazing, tall and extraordinary animals - giraffes. They got their name from Arabic - “gathering”. So in Africa, where giraffes live, people named them for their appearance, which combines similarities with several other animals. The neck and head are those of a camel, the skin is tiger, the horns are like those of a gazelle, the teeth are like those of a cow. The Arabic name refers to where giraffes live. They can be safely added to the list of surviving symbols of the “Dark Continent”. Africa is the only continent where the giraffe lives, unlike elephants.

Animal Basics

Giraffes, by their way of life, do not live in herds. This makes them significantly different from representatives of other ungulates. Occasionally they form groups (mostly females), but do not become strongly attached to each other. They are completely herbivores, which determined where giraffes lived before the development of human civilization. In ancient times, they mostly inhabited northern Africa. Even in times ancient egypt their numbers, according to archaeological finds, were quite high. But even during the existence of this ancient state his subjects literally exterminated giraffes.

Today, the tallest animals live in the arid regions of Africa. Since they are great admirers of acacia leaves, they settle where these trees grow in significant quantities. They prefer to stay on the savannah plains, where there is always enough acacia.

The type of giraffes and the pattern of spots depend on the area of ​​residence. In the 20th century, their range decreased significantly. Now these majestic ungulates are forced to settle in nature reserves and national parks in African countries.

Ugandan

Most of the Ugandan giraffes are concentrated in Murchison Park, as is already clear from the name of the animal, in Uganda. Males of these individuals reach 5.5 meters in height and weigh a ton or more. They are also called Rothschild's giraffe. The Ugandan ungulate has large brown spots of varying sizes, different in shape from other species. It is found not only in Uganda, but also partially in Kenya, along with other types of giraffes.

Nubian

This species of giraffe lives in eastern Sudan and western Ethiopia. More specifically, in the national park of Eastern Sudan (on the border with Ethiopia) Dinder. Its area is 16 acres. Tourists are advised to visit the park in their SUVs from January to April, when the weather is most comfortable.

West African

The only country where this species of giraffe lives is Chad. True, due to the fact that individuals are sometimes found on the border with Niger, many sources attribute the habitat of West African giraffes to this state. Now they are on the verge of extinction. As, in fact, the Angolan subspecies.

Maasai

As the name suggests, it is common in the areas inhabited by the Maasai tribe - in Kenya and Tanzania. The governments of these African states protect giraffes, like other wild animals, by allocating them protected areas - the Masai Mara and Serengeti reserves. By the way, local tribes help the Kenyan government monitor some animals from the Masai Mara. They closely monitor that poachers do not eradicate the remaining individuals. Also in Kenya there is a reticulated giraffe, so named because of its color, which is distinguished by thin light stripes that create the appearance of a net on the animal’s body.

South African

This subspecies of giraffes has chosen its territory to live in South Africa, Zimbabwe, Mozambique, Botswana and Namibia. Distinctive feature- round spots on a reddish background. It's good to know that they are not considered an endangered species yet. Population growth is observed periodically.

In South Africa, the giraffe population is maintained in large quantities in the oldest national park in the Kruger. It is part of the UNESCO International Biological Program biosphere reserve. It was named in honor of President Paul Kruger, on whose initiative the environmental protection zone was created. Between the Sabi and Crocodile rivers, the Sabi reserve was founded, where hunting was limited, including giraffes. On the basis of this place, the Kruger zone was created, which later became the first national park of the Republic of South Africa.

Zimbabwe can be proud of Hwange National Park. This is the place where giraffes of a poor country live, numbering about 3 thousand individuals. In other protected areas of Zimbabwe, giraffes are not numerous. Even the most famous can boast of them national park Namibia - Etosha. Of course, it consists entirely of savannas, which is a natural habitat for the tallest animals and those who like to eat acacias. In Mozambique, giraffes inhabit the Limpopo National Park, which borders the Kruger Conservation Area.

Kutse Nature Reserve is located 210 kilometers from the capital of Botswana. In addition to the abundance of various predatory and ungulate animals, Kutse is almost the only place in Botswana where giraffes live.

Interesting facts about long-necked animals

Although the babies of acacia lovers are born without horns, their future locations are marked with tufts of black wool. Cartilage “hides” under the skin. Gradually they will ossify and turn into small horns that will grow over time. Tufts of dark wool remain for several more years, then they wear off and disappear without a trace. Thanks to this feature, it is possible to approximately determine the age of an individual from a distance.

Employees of one of protected areas an incident would be described in which a lion jumped at a giraffe, but missed. The predator was met with hooves. The lion never got up because the blow landed in the chest. The crippled beast had to be shot. His chest was crushed and almost all of his ribs were broken. Some more facts about giraffes:

• A giraffe has the same number of cervical vertebrae as a human – 7.
• Like fingerprints, each individual's coloration is unique.
• The animal can reach speeds of up to 60 km/h. If necessary, it is capable of jumping over an obstacle 185 centimeters high. And this is the height of a tall person.
• The only relative of the acacia lover is the okapi.

It doesn’t matter where the giraffe lives, in what country - all its species are interbreeding, their characteristics are not hereditary. Although at the beginning of the study of these animals it was believed that all subspecies were independent.

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The giraffe is a mammal from the order Artiodactyls. The giraffe is the tallest animal on the planet. The giraffe is an intelligent and peace-loving animal that has been familiar to us since childhood. In this article you will find a photo and description of a giraffe, and also learn a lot of interesting things about this unique and wonderful animal.

Description of a giraffe or what does a giraffe look like?

The description of the giraffe can begin first of all with its growth. The giraffe looks very tall. After all, the giraffe is the record holder in the animal world for height and is one of the largest animals. The giraffe grows up to 6 meters in height. The weight of a giraffe is 1 ton. Male giraffes are taller than females. In addition, females weigh slightly less.

The giraffe's height is 1/3 of its neck, which is unusually long and slender. The giraffe's neck has 7 cervical vertebrae. Many other mammals, even those with short necks, have the same number of vertebrae; it’s just that the giraffe’s vertebrae are elongated. The giraffe's neck is unusually strong, as it has strong muscles that allow it to hold its head and maneuver well.

Since giraffes are tall and have a long neck, their circulatory system works under increased stress. Therefore, giraffes have a very strong heart. The giraffe's heart weighs 12 kg and passes 60 liters of blood per minute, creating a pressure 3 times higher than that of a human.

But even such a strong heart of a giraffe cannot withstand overload if the animal suddenly lowers and raises its head. Nature made sure that such stress did not have dire consequences and made the giraffe’s blood thicker. In addition, it contains 2 times more blood cells than a person. The giraffe also has special valves that help maintain pressure in main artery on the same level.

The giraffe looks unusual not only because of its height. The giraffe's strong body is covered with short hair. The color of the giraffe's coat adds to the uniqueness of the giraffe's appearance. The coat pattern of each giraffe is formed by a unique pattern of dark spots that stand out against the background of a light shade of the base color. This pattern is absolutely unique, like a human fingerprint. From below, the giraffe's body is lighter in color and has no spots. Young individuals are lighter in color than older ones.

The giraffe looks funny, because its head with small ears has two horns covered with hair. Both sexes have horns. Females have thinner horns and have tassels. In males they are thicker and the coat is smoother. Occasionally, giraffes have two pairs of horns. Giraffes often have a convex bone growth on their forehead that looks like a horn. The giraffe looks charming, because its huge black eyes have thick eyelashes. The giraffe has a thin a long tail, with a black tassel at the end and a small short mane on the neck.

Giraffes have good eyesight, hearing and smell; such abilities help them spot danger in time. And of course, a big increase giraffes allow you to have a good overview of the area. Giraffes can see each other at a distance of up to a kilometer. The giraffe's tongue is dark in color, often with a purple tint. The giraffe's tongue is 45 cm long and helps the animal grab branches. The giraffe's long neck allows it to reach the highest crowns.

The giraffe's legs are strong and high, with the front ones being longer than the back ones. Giraffes run fast. If necessary, the giraffe can gallop at a speed of up to 55 km/h. Thus, the animal giraffe can outrun a racehorse in short distances. But most often, giraffes move slowly, first moving their two right hooves, then both left ones. When walking this way, the giraffe's speed is up to 7 km/hour.

Since the giraffe has a lot of weight and thin legs, it moves only on a hard surface. Therefore, the animal giraffe avoids swampy areas. Rivers are almost insurmountable for giraffes. It is noteworthy that these huge animals can jump over barriers up to 180 cm high.

Currently there are 4 species of giraffes and 9 subspecies. They all differ in the pattern of their fur and the color of their spots. Giraffe species are divided into: southern giraffes, Masai giraffes, reticulated giraffes and northern giraffes.

Modern giraffe subspecies include: the Nubian giraffe, the West African giraffe, the Kordofan giraffe, the reticulated giraffe, the Ugandan or Rothschild's giraffe, the Masai giraffe, Thornycroft's giraffe, the Angolan giraffe and the South African giraffe.

Where do giraffes live and how?

Giraffes live in Africa, living in its arid parts. Today, giraffes live south and southeast of the Sahara. Giraffes live in savannas and woodlands, primarily in the territories of Eastern and South Africa.

In the 20th century, the number of giraffes declined significantly due to uncontrolled hunting, various diseases and destruction natural conditions a habitat. Today greatest number giraffes live in protected areas national parks. Giraffes are one of the few animals that feel good in captivity and regularly bear offspring.

Giraffes live practically without sleep; among all mammals they have the least need for it. A giraffe sleeps on average no more than 2 hours a day. But sometimes a 10-minute nap is enough for them. Surely everyone has wondered how giraffes sleep? They're so tall. Giraffes sleep both standing and lying down. In a lying position, a sleeping giraffe bends its neck, tucks its legs and rests its head on its rump.

Giraffes live in small herds or alone. There is no strict loyalty in herds. Everyone can freely leave the herd or also freely move to another. The size of the herd varies depending on the season and can range from 4 to 32 individuals. A herd of giraffes can consist of individuals of different sexes or of the same sex. In search of food, the giraffe animal can travel up to 100 km². Quite often you can see giraffes moving along with herds of antelope or zebra. This way they are safer.

Hierarchy and social behavior giraffes in the herd have not yet been fully studied. Although giraffes do not have a main leader, older and stronger males have an advantage over others. Also in herds where there are only females, the oldest female takes the lead. When two adult males meet, skirmishes often occur between them. In a duel, they try to headbutt each other in the neck. Despite this, defeated males are not expelled from the herd, unlike other social animals, such as wolves.

The mating season is also often accompanied by fights between males, but at this time they become much more aggressive. Opponents can sort things out near a tree, with each trying to press the opponent to the trunk and deliver a headbutt to the neck. Fortunately, giraffes do not use their main weapon on each other - dangerous blows with their front hooves. At least such cases have not been observed. They usually use their hooves to defend themselves against predators. The winner does not pursue the defeated male.

Giraffes are mistakenly considered voiceless animals. They simply communicate with each other at low frequencies, which are indistinguishable to human hearing. However, giraffes do make sounds that we can hear. They can snort, whistle and roar, thus alerting their relatives in case of danger, as well as when searching for lost cubs.

What do giraffes eat?

The giraffe is a herbivore animal. Therefore, giraffes eat exclusively plant foods. Due to their body structure and physiology, giraffes eat the foliage of tree crowns located at considerable heights, where there is no competition. Giraffes eat acacia, giving the greatest preference to this tree.

The giraffe grabs the branch with its long tongue and pulls it towards its mouth to pluck the leaves, while pulling its head back. The acacia tree has thorny branches, but the giraffe's tongue and lips are designed in such a way that they allow feeding without damage.

A giraffe eats up to 30 kg of food per day, spending most time. In times of famine, 7 kg of food is enough for a giraffe. It is curious that by the way giraffes eat, you can determine the sex of the animal from a distance. Male giraffes eat mainly very high-growing leaves, while they strongly stretch their necks and throw back their heads. Female giraffes eat leaves that grow at the level of their body, so they usually lower their necks slightly.

The animal giraffe can do without water even longer than a camel. After all, food completely covers his need for liquid. However, if a giraffe has the opportunity to drink, it can drink up to 38 liters of water at a time. To drink water, a giraffe must spread its front legs wide apart and lower its head quite low. This position makes the giraffe clumsy and vulnerable to predators, so giraffes drink only when they are confident in their safety. In the same position, giraffes pluck grass when hungry.

Giraffes are polygamous animals. Females become capable of reproduction at the age of 3-4 years, but produce offspring for the first time by 5 years. In males, the breeding season begins at the age of 4-5 years. Young males find it difficult to compete with older males. Therefore, young animals can acquire offspring only by the age of 7 years.

The mating season for giraffes is from July to September. The duration of a giraffe's pregnancy is 14-15 months. Usually only one giraffe calf is born. Giraffes give birth standing up, which means that a giraffe calf falls from a height of about 2 meters at birth. There is no need to worry; the baby giraffe does not suffer any injuries from the fall.

A born giraffe calf is 180 cm tall and weighs 50 kg. An hour after birth, the cub gets on its feet, and after a few more hours it can run. Giraffe cubs are only allowed into the general herd after a few weeks, at which time they begin to browse the grass. But the baby giraffe will feed on mother’s milk until almost 1 year of age.

Giraffes have nurseries to which females send their young. In this way, mothers may separate from their young to find food and water. Monitoring duty over a group of cubs occurs between mothers in turns.

Baby giraffes are born without horns, but there is a tuft where they appear. dark hair, under which there is cartilage. As they grow older, the cartilages harden into horns that begin to grow. Tufts of black fur at the base of the horns remain with the cub for several years, after which they disappear.

Giraffe cubs grow quickly, they are mobile and very active. Until approximately 1.5 years of age, the giraffe calf remains with its mother. After which it begins independent life. Males usually leave their native herd, but females almost always remain in it. In the wild, giraffes live for about 25 years, and in captivity up to 35 years.

Due to its considerable size, the animal giraffe has practically no natural enemies. Giraffes defend themselves from predators by striking their front hooves. Such a blow can break the skull of any predator, although there are cases of predators defeating giraffes.

Few predators are willing to take risks, so attacks on adults are rare. Predators most often attack young animals. Despite the mother's protection, up to 50% of young giraffes become prey to lions, leopards, hyenas and wild dogs.

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One of the most tall mammals living on land is the giraffe. Close relatives of giraffes are okapi, and distant relatives are deer. Its undeniable difference from other animals is that it has a very long neck, which makes up almost half of its total height. Only elephants, hippos and rhinoceroses are larger in size.

Appearance of a giraffe

The height of the giraffe including the neck and head can reach about 6 meters. The average height at the withers is 3.5 meters. However, males and females differ slightly in height. Individuals female a little smaller. And accordingly, they cannot weigh as much as a male giraffe weighs.

Average animal weight varies within two tons. The tail is about a meter long, with a tuft of black hair at the end. In addition to its outstanding height and long neck, the giraffe has another distinctive feature, namely wool covered with black and brown spots.

The spots are separated by intervals of yellowish or whitish color. The spots are irregular in shape with jagged edges. However, the type of spots on the body of each animal is the same. Giraffes have coarse mane on the neck. The fur of the mane is dark brown. The length of the hairs reaches 12 centimeters.

Representatives of both sexes have a a pair of short and blunt horns. They are covered with skin. However, the horns of male and female giraffes are slightly different:

• males have more massive and longer horns;
• sometimes there is a third horn on the forehead;
• the bony outgrowths on the back of the head in old males are often well developed (“five-horned” giraffes).

Features of the neck structure

Skeleton cervical region includes only 7 vertebrae. This amount is typical for the structure of the neck of almost all species of mammals. The neck is long solely due to the structure of the vertebrae - each vertebra is greatly elongated.

Another feature is that the thoracic vertebra, the one immediately behind cervical vertebra, greatly modified. It looks more like one of the cervical vertebrae.

Blood pressure. Due to their high growth, giraffes have a colossal load on the heart and the entire circulatory system. The heart is well developed and strong enough to withstand record high blood pressure.

Its indicators are three times higher than human indicators. In turn, this blood pressure necessary so that blood can flow freely from the heart to the brain. When the head is raised, pressure is in the skull.

Lowering your head could risk a dangerous increase in pressure. To ensure that the up and down movements of the neck do not cause instant death, nature "fuses" are provided:

1. Blood is thick and has an increased density compared to human blood.
2. There is a special protective mechanism, two vascular formations.

Due to these indicators arterial pressure normalizes. Venous valves allow blood to flow only in one direction, to the heart, and prevent reverse flow to the brain.

Animal's maximum speed

Despite the fact that the height of the giraffe is quite large, and it seemed that this could interfere with high-quality running, however, they are considered very fast animals. If necessary, animals can run at a gallop. Yes, their maximum speed may be almost 55 km/h. This means that giraffes can outrun a horse.

However, these majestic animals often prefer to move slowly. The giraffe walks, simultaneously moving first one pair of hooves to the right, then to the left. Animals only walk along hard surface. This is due to their height and thin legs.

However, an interesting fact is that with its growth giraffes can jump. Sometimes they are even able to overcome obstacles and barriers higher than one and a half meters.

Giraffe diet

These animals are classified as herbivores, a group of ruminants. The physiology and structure of their body make it possible to feed on leaves from high tree crowns. Based on where the giraffe lives, this allows it to remain out of competition compared to other species.

The most delicious leaves for them are acacia leaves. Covering the branch with its long tongue, the giraffe pulls it to its mouth and then plucks the leaves. At the same time, the head is pulled back. Despite the fact that the branches are often thorny, the oral cavity and tongue are not damaged in any way.

In a day, one representative of these animals is able to consume up to 30 kilograms of greens. This takes at least up to 16 hours. It happens that a giraffe can spend about 20 hours doing this activity. It has been noticed that males and females eat differently. Male individuals nibble leaves from the very tops.

At the same time, they stretch their neck so much that it seems as if it becomes an extension of the neck. Females, on the contrary, do not try to reach the very top of the trees. They eat leaves growing at the level of the body. This is why they are often in a bent neck position.

Giraffes do not have a great need for water; they may not drink nothing at all for 7 days. This need is more than covered by succulent food. However, if the animal nevertheless decides to drink, then this volume will be at least 38 liters.

These animals do not really like to drink, since at this time the head will have to be lowered down, so the animal remains unprotected and may not notice the impending danger.

Giraffe habitat and how long they live

Scientists agree that the ancestors of giraffes appeared about 25 million years ago. The remains of these animals were found in Africa, as well as Eurasia. However, now the habitat of giraffes is exclusively continent Africa.

The eastern part is especially densely populated. But speaking about the southwestern part of the continent, we can say that the animals there have been practically exterminated. Groups with small numbers are rare can be found in the steppes. This is due to the fact that some time ago there was a total hunt for giraffes.

For a long time, ecologists were at a loss about how long this animal could live. However, it was possible to find out that in natural environment adults It is rare to live more than 15 years. But it is a known fact that a giraffe in captivity was able to live 28 years. To date, this is the oldest age known to science.

So, by the end of the article we managed to find out several interesting facts about giraffes, namely that they have a body height of more than 5 meters, a long neck, which helps them eat in a special way, today they can live only in Africa and are able to develop speed like a good horse. Truly unique and interesting animals!

The early history of giraffes is associated with the evolution of the entire giraffe family. Having split off from other deer-like artiodactyls in the Miocene, the ancestors of modern giraffes lived throughout Europe, Asia and Africa several million years ago. The Early Neogene was a period of prosperity for giraffidae, when they achieved both their greatest species diversity and greatest geographic distribution. Many species were already distinguished by their large size and powerful body structure (especially the genus Helladotherium). Due to climate change in the Pleistocene, most giraffidae became extinct, leaving only two modern looking: giraffe and okapi. Both species still had short necks, but over time, giraffes began to elongate their necks, being an advantageous advantage in searching for food.

According to Namibian zoologist Rob Siemens, long necks arose as a result of males fighting with their necks. Male with more long neck won more often and received more attention from females, thereby producing more offspring.

Habitat

The giraffe lives in the savannas of sunny Africa; the giraffe does not live on other continents. Over the past 50 years, giraffe herds can often be found in the southern and south-eastern regions of the Sahara, as well as drier areas of uninhabited land. Due to its elongated body structure and low water consumption, this animal can live in the open forests of Africa.

Description

Male giraffes reach a height of up to 5.5–6.1 m (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 that interrupt 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.

The pattern on the fur consists of dark spots that stand out from the lighter shade of the base color, and each giraffe is individual, like a person's fingerprints. The lower part of the giraffe's body is lighter and without spots. On the head of giraffes of both sexes there are two hair-covered horns (ossicones), thickened at the ends. Occasionally there are two pairs of horns. In the middle of the forehead there is often a peculiar bone growth, which can be mistaken for another unpaired horn. Black eyes are fringed with thick eyelashes, short ears. Giraffes have very good eyesight, hearing and smell, which allows them to notice danger in advance. Good review The area is, of course, helped by its great growth. Giraffes can see their tall relatives at a distance of up to a kilometer.

Giraffes can run fast and, in case of urgent need, reach a gallop speed of 55 km/h, that is, over short distances they can outrun a racehorse. However, as a rule, they walk slowly, moving both right hooves at the same time, then both left ones. Because of his heavy weight and thin legs, giraffes can only walk on hard surfaces. These animals avoid swampy areas, and rivers often present insurmountable obstacles for giraffes. It is also noteworthy that these seemingly bulky and clumsy animals can also jump, overcoming even barriers 1.85 m high.

Giraffe lifestyle

Giraffes live in small herds in large open areas of the African savannah, among solitary tall trees. There is a hierarchy in the herd. They are led by adult males. Giraffes are not aggressive animals. If conflicts arise between members, they are resolved by demonstration fights. Giraffes push their necks and try to butt the enemy with their horns. In case of defeat, the loser is not expelled from the herd.

Their high growth allows them to eat the tops. Giraffes have no competitors here. Like cows, they are ruminants. They feed in the morning and evening, and during the day they wait out the heat, hiding in the shade of tall trees. Standing motionless among the branches of a tree, the giraffe is almost invisible due to its spotted color. Favorite food is acacia. Giraffes are perfectly adapted to eating it. The animal's mouth is protected from thorns, and thick saliva allows them to be swallowed. They can also eat grass, but this is very inconvenient for them.

Due to its large size, it is quite difficult for a giraffe to rise from the ground. Therefore, they rarely lie down and spend most of their time on their feet. They even sleep standing up, placing their head on their back or resting it on the branches of a tree. One more amazing feature The giraffe's need for sleep. These animals hardly sleep. Their average sleep duration is less than 2 hours per day.

Giraffes have only two enemies. This is a lion and a man. Lions attack in groups young or old animals. But the giraffe is not such an easy prey. He hears and sees well, so he notices hunters from afar. Thanks to their long legs, they run quite quickly. Developing speeds of up to 60 km/h, they can escape the pursuit of a lion. If a giraffe is surrounded by predators, it fights off with its hooves. With one blow of his powerful hoof he can kill or maim an adult lion. Therefore, lions try to jump on the giraffe’s back and knock him down. A giraffe knocked to the ground is easy prey for lions.

Leopards and hyenas are also very dangerous for giraffe cubs. Giraffes don't like water. They do not cross rivers and do not enter bodies of water at all. During the rainy season they hide under trees. They can go without water for a long time (several weeks), obtaining moisture from succulent leaves. Its ability to go without water for a long time rivals that of a camel. During periods of drought, the giraffe can feed on dry and thorny branches.

Nutrition

The giraffe is artiodactyl, exclusively herbivore. They are ruminants, just like cows, and chew their food several times because they have a four-chambered stomach. The main diet of the animal is leaves of trees and shrubs. Most of all, gourmets prefer acacia. Males choose the highest branches, while they stretch their necks even more and seem even more majestic.

Females do not strive to visually increase their height; they are content with the vegetation that is located at the level of their body. The animals immediately grab the entire branch with their tongue and pull it into their mouth, stripping off all the leaves. In order to feed themselves, giraffes eat up to 20 hours a day, because they need at least 30 kg.

The food they eat is so rich in juices that giraffes have very little need for water. For weeks, or even months, this large animal can go without drinking. When a giraffe drinks, it can drink about 40 liters at once.

There is no such amount of water at the top, so when drinking, the animal is forced to bend its neck very low and spread its front legs wide apart. This is the most uncomfortable and vulnerable position; it is in this position that the giraffe is clumsy and clumsy. Therefore, he starts drinking only in full confidence that there is no danger nearby. By the way, this is why giraffes do not like to nibble grass.

Reproduction and lifespan

The mating season and mating itself falls during the rainy season. But the birth itself most often occurs from May to August, that is, during the months of drought. Pregnancy for a female giraffe lasts more than a year - 457 days, but the baby is born already about 2 meters tall. The female brings one cub, rarely, but twins can also be born.

Within 15 minutes after birth, the baby rises to its feet and begins to feed on mother's milk. At this time, they are completely defenseless, so they are forced to hide throughout the first week after birth.

Interestingly, after 3-4 weeks of birth, giraffes begin to separate from their calves, leaving them in the care of other adult females. The mother can go 200 meters from the herd and return only in the evening to feed the baby.

This continues until the cubs are able to accompany the mother. The babies grow up quickly, but will be with the female for 12-16 months. True, young males separate from their mother at 12-14 months of age.

They begin to live alone until they become strong, sexually mature males. And sexual maturity in males occurs at 4-5 years. However, giraffes begin to mate only after they are 7 years old.

Females, most often, remain in the herd. They become sexually mature at 3-4 years, however, they do not rush to become mothers for at least a year. These interesting animals live in the wild for up to 25 years. Even in captivity, in specially created conditions, under the supervision of veterinarians, the life expectancy of these beauties did not exceed a record 28 years.

Communication and perception

Giraffes rarely make sounds and are therefore considered quiet or even mute mammals. They communicate with their own kind using infrasound. Sometimes they can make sounds similar to grunting or whistling. When alarmed, a giraffe can snort or grunt, thereby warning neighboring giraffes of danger. Mothers whistle to their calves. In addition, females search for lost cubs using roars. Calves respond to their mothers by bleating or meowing. During courtship, males may make coughing sounds. The giraffe has good visibility due to its height. This allows the animals to maintain continuous visual contact even at great distances from the herd. Keen vision helps the giraffe see a predator from a distance in order to have time to prepare for an attack.

Subspecies

The distribution by subspecies includes the territorial location of these mammals and the pattern on the body. Today there are nine subspecies of giraffes.

Nubian giraffe

The Nubian giraffe (G. c. camelopardalis) lives in eastern South Sudan and southwestern Ethiopia. Giraffes of this subspecies have distinctive chestnut spots surrounded by mostly white lines. The bone growth on the forehead is more pronounced in males. There are believed to be around 250 giraffes left in the wild, although this figure has not been confirmed. Nubian giraffes are difficult to find in captivity, although a small group is located at the Al Ain Zoo in the United States. United Arab Emirates. In 2003, the group consisted of 14 individuals.

Reticulated giraffe

Reticulated giraffe (G. c. reticulata), also known as the Somali giraffe. Its homeland is northeastern Kenya, southern Ethiopia and Somalia. It has a distinctive pattern on its body, which consists of spiky, reddish-brown polygonal spots separated by a network of thin white lines. The spots may be located below the hock, and a bony growth on the forehead is present only in males. It is estimated that there are a maximum of 5,000 individuals in the wild and about 450 in zoos.

Angolan giraffe

The Angolan giraffe or Namibian giraffe (G. c. angolensis) lives in northern Namibia, southwestern Zambia, Botswana and western Zimbabwe. Genetic research on this subspecies suggests that the desert population of northern Namibia and National Park The Etosha form a separate subspecies. It is characterized by large brown spots on the body with jagged or elongated corners. The patterns are distributed along the entire length of the legs, but are absent in the upper part of the face. The neck and rump have a small number of spots. The subspecies has a white patch of skin in the ear area. According to recent estimates, a maximum of 20,000 animals remain in the wild and about 20 are in zoos.

Giraffe cordo fan

The Kordofan giraffe (G. c. antiquorum) is distributed in southern Chad, the Central African Republic, northern Cameroon and the northeastern part of the Democratic Republic of the Congo. The giraffe population of Cameroon was previously classified as a different subspecies - the West African one, but this was a mistaken opinion. Compared to Nubian giraffes, this subspecies has more uneven spotting. Their spots may be located below the hocks and on internal sides legs A bony growth on the forehead is present in males. About 3,000 individuals are thought to live in the wild. Considerable confusion exists regarding the status of this and the West African subspecies in zoos. In 2007, all supposed West African giraffes were in fact Kordofan giraffes. Taking into account these amendments, there are about 65 individuals of Kordofan giraffes in zoos.

Masai giraffe

The Masai giraffe (G. c. tippelskirchi), also known as the Kilimanjar giraffe, lives in central and southern parts Kenya and Tanzania. This subspecies has its distinctive, irregularly distributed, jagged, star-shaped spots that are found on the legs. Most often, a bone growth on the forehead is found in males. There are about 40,000 giraffes left in the wild, and about 100 giraffes are in zoos.

Rothschild's giraffe

The Rothschild's giraffe (G. c. rothschildi), named after Walter Rothschild, is also known as the Baringo giraffe or Ugandan giraffe. Its range includes parts of Uganda and Kenya. Giraffes of this subspecies have large dark spots that have smooth contours, but also have sharp edges. Dark spots may have lighter lines. The spots rarely extend below the hock and almost never reach the hooves. Fewer than 700 individuals remain in the wild and more than 450 Rothschild's giraffes live in zoos.

South African giraffe

The South African giraffe (G. c. giraffa) lives in northern South Africa, southern Botswana, southern Zimbabwe, and southwestern Mozambique. The subspecies is characterized by the presence of dark, slightly rounded spots on the reddish color of the skin. The spots spread down the legs and become smaller in size. There are approximately 12,000 South African giraffes in the wild and 45 in captivity.

Rhodesian giraffe

The Rhodesian giraffe (G. c. thornicrofti), also called Thornicroft's giraffe, after Harry Scott Thornicroft restricted the Luangwa Valley in eastern Zambia. Has jagged spots and some in the shape of a star, and which sometimes spread to the legs. The bony growth on the forehead of males is underdeveloped. No more than 1,500 individuals remain in the wild.

West African giraffe

The West African giraffe (G. c. peralta), also known as the Niger or Niger subspecies, is endemic to the southwestern part of the Niger Republic. Giraffes of this subspecies have a lighter coat compared to other subspecies. The spots on the body are lobate-shaped and extend below the hock. Males have a well-developed bony growth on the forehead.

This subspecies has the smallest population size, with fewer than 220 individuals remaining in the wild. Cameroon giraffes were previously classified as this subspecies, but in fact, they were Kordofan giraffes. This error led to some confusion in the population estimates of the subspecies, but in 2007 it was determined that all West African giraffes found in European zoos are in fact Kordofan subspecies giraffes.

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 one hundred ten to one hundred fifty thousand individuals. There are about thirteen 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.

Interesting facts about giraffes