Interesting Facts about GIRAFFES ***

Facts about Giraffes

Facts About

Did you Know? List of Facts about Giraffes
Facts are statements which are held to be true and often contrasted with opinions and beliefs. Our unusual and interesting facts about Giraffes, trivia and information, including some useful statistics about animals will fascinate everyone from kids and children to adults.

Interesting Facts about Giraffes are as follows:

Fact 1 - Definition: The giraffe is the tallest living quadruped i.e. an animal that walks on all fours having a spotted coat and small horns and very long neck and legs; of savannahs, grasslands, or open woodlands of tropical Africa

Fact 2 - Giraffes are an African ruminant (Camelopardalis giraffa) related to the deers and antelopes, but placed in a family by itself; the camelopard. Ruminant animals, like the giraffe, are even-toed, cud-chewing, hoofed, usually horned mammals which have a stomach divided into four (occasionally three) compartments
Fact 3 - It is the tallest of animals, being sometimes twenty feet from the hoofs to the top of the head
Fact 4 - Its neck of the giraffes is very long, and its fore legs are about 10% longer than its hind legs.
Fact 5 - Giraffes drink large quantities of water (10 gallons per day) when it is available enabling them to live for long periods in arid areas
Fact 6 - Giraffes have one of the shortest sleep requirements of any mammal averaging 1.9 hours per day
Fact 7 - The species name of giraffes is 'camelopardalis (camelopard) which is derived from its early Roman name, where it was described as a mix between a camel and a leopard.
Fact 8 - coat of giraffes is made up of brown patches of hair separated by lighter hair. Each giraffe has a unique coat pattern
Fact 9 - Both sexes of giraffes have horns, although the horns of a female are smaller
Fact 10 - Giraffes can reach a speed of up to 60 km/h (37 mph)
Fact 11 - The necks of giraffes can be over 2m in length
Fact 12 - The tongue of an adult giraffe is black and measures 27 inches
Fact 13 - The average life span of giraffes is 20 to 25 years
Fact 14 - The ages of giraffes can be calculated from its spots: the darker the spots, the older the giraffe
Fact 15 - The favourite food of giraffes is Acacia Leaves. They spend between 16 and 20 hours a day feeding
Fact 16 - Giraffes have the longest tail of any land mammal – up to 8 feet long, including the tuft at the end
Fact 17 - Their necks are too short to reach the ground and as a result, it has to awkwardly spread its front legs in order to reach the ground to drink water
Fact 18 - Males are known as bulls and females are known as cows
Fact 19 - Two of the 9 subspecies of giraffes are currently Endangered species: the West African Giraffe or Nigerian Giraffe (Giraffa camelopardalis peralta), and the Rothschild's Giraffe (Giraffa camelopardalis rothschildi)