All the time, something chewing, the highest, with an unusually beautiful coloring, the animal lives in the savannas of South and East Africa. Where in abundance grows its main food - acacia.
It is difficult to imagine someone so tall among the representatives of the animal kingdom, and this is not necessary, because the giraffe is considered the tallest land animal, whose height reaches 5.5-6 meters, while its weight is 1 ton.
Interestingthat the highest giraffe has a height of 6 meters 10 centimeters (listed in the Guinness Book of Records).
A giraffe is an animal that does not like to be alone, but with joy becomes a part of the group. This handsome animal is very peaceful, is distinguished by a good disposition and calmness.
The animal world of Africa is very diverse, who are not there: hippos, zebras, amazing birds, chimpanzees, etc. We decided to learn more about giraffes, and collected interesting facts about them.
10. Ruminant
It is not surprising that in documentaries or in photographs we always see a giraffe chewing on food, because he belongs to the group of ruminants.
It is noteworthy that they always chew, even when moving. Animals give preference to acacia - they spend at least 12 hours on food. In addition, they willingly consume young grass and other plants.
Interesting fact: giraffes are called "pliers" because they reach high branches and eat young shoots. The animals have a unique mouth - a purple tongue is located inside it, reaching a length of 50 cm. Sensitive hairs are on the giraffe's lips - it is with them that the animal determines how ripe the plant is, and whether there are thorns on it so as not to get hurt.
9. Does not know how to yawn
Oh, how sweet it is to yawn, anticipating rest and sleep ... However, the giraffe is unfamiliar with this feeling - animals never yawn. In any case, those who have been near him for a long time did not notice such a reflex.
The explanation for this is quite simple - the giraffe does not yawn, because he does not need this reflex physically. Due to the long neck, his body is equipped with devices that allow the brain to not experience oxygen starvation.
8. Has ossicons - unique cartilage masses
Have you ever noticed that on the head of a giraffe is something like horns? Take a closer look ... These are the ossicons - unique cartilaginous formations with which a giraffe is born (pantlike protrusions are characteristic of both male and female).
At the birth of the calf, the ossicons are not yet attached to the skull, so they are easily bent when they pass through the birth canal. Gradually, the cartilage masses become ossified, and become small horns, which subsequently increase. On the head of a giraffe, most often there is only one pair of ossicons, but it happens that individuals meet with two pairs.
7. Able to reach speeds of up to 55 km / h
Giraffe is an amazing animal in everything! He is able to gallop at a speed of 55 km / h. That is, the animal may well overtake the average racehorse.
This long-legged handsome has all the makings for a quick run, but he does it rarely and clumsily, but in the case when a predator chases him, the giraffe can accelerate so much that it will overtake a lion and even a cheetah.
The highest terrestrial animal on Earth could become one of the fastest (after a camel, of course, this animal can accelerate to 65 km / h.)
6. Incredibly strong skin
Another interesting fact about the giraffe - the skin of the animal is so strong that shields are made from it. It does not cause the giraffe any inconvenience as it might seem, but, on the contrary, thanks to the strong skin, the animal is more stable.
The skin of this bright representative of the African fauna is so dense that the Masai (African tribe) make shields from it.
Therefore, when it becomes necessary to inject a giraffe, ingenuity has to be shown here. The drugs are injected into the giraffe using a kind of weapon - syringes are fired from it. A complicated procedure, but in no other way.
5. Okapi - the closest relative
A close relative of the giraffe is a beautiful okapi. Its neck and legs are elongated, outwardly the animal resembles a horse. On the hind legs a rather bizarre coloring - black and old stripes that resemble the skin of a zebra. Thanks to this coloring, the animal looks interesting.
Okapi has a short velvet coat with a red-chocolate hue. The limbs of the animal are white, the head is light brown and with large ears, the muzzle is full of charm! There are big black eyes on it, which, of course, cause a feeling of tenderness in everyone.
Many people dream of seeing okapi live, however, to do this, you need to go to Congo - the animal lives only there.
4. Curls up when sleeping
For sleep, the animal chooses night time. The giraffe is a rather slow animal, moving slowly and calmly. Sometimes it stops and stands for a long time - because of this, for a long time, people have assumed that the animal either does not sleep at all, or does it while standing.
However, in the course of research (they began to be carried out not so long ago - about 30 years ago), something else was established - an animal sleeps no more than 2 hours per day.
In order to gain strength and sleep, giraffe lays on the ground, and places its head on the body (This pose is characteristic of the “deep sleep” stage; it lasts about 20 minutes per day). Being half asleep during the day, the animal compensates for the lack of sleep.
3. Drinks up to 40 liters of water at a time
Of course, it’s hard for us to imagine how you can drink 40 liters of water at a time, but giraffes do it perfectly. It is known that with its long tongue, a giraffe picks leaves from trees - it needs enough moisture, which is contained in the juicy parts of plants.
From this we can conclude that the giraffe’s need for liquid is mainly covered by food, due to which it can be without drinking for several weeks. But if the giraffe still decides to drink water, then it can overpower up to 40 liters at a time!
Interesting fact: the body of the giraffe is organized so that it cannot stand tilting its head to the water. During drinking, he has to widely spread his front legs to make it possible to lower his head to the water.
2. The spotted pattern of the body is individual, like a fingerprint of a person
Each giraffe has an individual spot arrangement, which is very similar to fingerprints in humans. The color of the animal varies, and once zoologists identified several types of giraffes: Masai (found in East Africa), netted (found in the woodlands of Somalia and North Kenya).
Zoologists argue that it is impossible to find two giraffes that would be equally colored - the spots are unique, like a fingerprint.
1. Allocated 9 separate subspecies
There are 9 modern subspecies of an amazing animal - a giraffe, now we will list them. Nubian lives in eastern southern Sudan, as well as in southwest Ethiopia.
West African is common in Niger. In Kenya and southern Somalia, you can find a netted giraffe. Kordofan inhabits the Central African Republic, a Ugandan animal can be seen in Uganda.
Masai (by the way, the largest subspecies of a giraffe) is widespread in Kenya, and also found in Tanzania. Tornicroft is found in Zambia, Angolan in northern Namibia, Botswana, Zimbabwe, and South African in Botswana. Often, it can also be seen in Zimbabwe and southwestern Mozambique.