Giant Giraffes – The World’s Tallest Animal

September 21, 2007 by Kimberly

Giraffes are the tallest of all land animals in the world, and are actually related to deer and cattle, but it has it’s own separate family all to itself, Giraffidae. The Giraffidae family includes the giraffe and the okapi.

The giraffe’s conservation status is Conservation Dependent.

Scientific Classification:
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Mammalia
Order: Artiodactyla
Family: Giraffidae
Genus: Giraffa
Species: G. camelopardalis

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Longneck African Giraffe – Distinctive Walking Gait – Unknown Outside Of Africa
By Gerald Crawford

Ancient cultures in Africa revered the giraffe, as some modern cultures do today, and commonly depicted it in prehistoric rock and cave paintings. Unknown outside of Africa, early written records described the giraffe as “magnificent in appearance, bizarre in form, unique in gait, colossal in height and inoffensive in character.”

The Giraffe [Giraffa Camelopardalis] moves about the semi-arid regions in groups. Its height allows it to keep in contact with other giraffes over large distances as well as spotting predators from afar. It is not uncommon to see other animals following a giraffe using it as an early predator warning system. The Giraffe is vulnerable when drinking. It is a quiet species although the males fight viciously for dominance over the group.

The neck is so long the giraffe must spread its front legs apart so its head can reach the ground to drink. It has unusually elastic blood vessels with a series of valves that help offset the sudden buildup of blood (and to prevent fainting) when the head is raised, lowered or swung quickly.

The giraffe’s high shoulders and sloping back give the impression that its front legs are much longer than the hind legs, but they are in fact only slightly longer. The giraffe (as well as its short-necked relative the okapi from Central African forests) has a distinctive walking gait, moving both legs on one side forward at the same time.

At a gallop, however, the gait changes, and the giraffe simultaneously swings the hind legs ahead of and outside the front legs, reaching speeds of 35 miles an hour. Its heavy head moves forward with each powerful stride, then swings back to stay balanced. Giraffes have “horns” not true horns but knobs covered with skin and hair above the eyes to protect the head from blows

The giraffes size is 5.2 meters head height.
The giraffes weight up to 1,400 kg.
The lifespan is 28 years.
The giraffes predators are humans and wild dogs.

The giraffe is a herbivore browsers. When protected, giraffes can flourish in areas where food is abundant year round. Although they drink water when it’s available, they can survive where it is scarce. They occasionally eat grass and fruits of various trees and shrubs, but their principal food source is the acacia tree.

The habitat where the giraffe is dry savannah woodland. Giraffes are found in arid and dry-savanna zones south of the Sahara, wherever trees occur.

The reproduction of the giraffe is as follows: Single young is born any time of the year. Gestation period 15 months.

See this only in Africa in the wild.

Gerald Crawford was born in South Africa, studied electronics, telecommunication, eco-travel and African travel concepts. He taught responsible tourism in South Africa. If you have any questions or comments please e-mail me on.

E-mail Address: southafricantravelarticles@12234455.co.za Website Address: www.12234455.co.za

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