Giraffes

Giraffes are the tallest animals of all. They have long legs and long necks. There are
7 bones in their necks, the same number as in ours. Males can grow to nearly five and a
half metres tall, and females to nearly five metres tall. Healthy giraffes live about 25
years in the wild.
There are about 9 different sub-species, or breeds, of giraffe. There are only small
differences between them. When giraffes of two differnet sub-species
breed, the young are called hybrids (mixed breeds). Of the nine sub-
species of giraffe, only one, the Rothchild's, is endangered.
Giraffes have horns called ossicones. These are fur-covered bumps on
their skulls, unlike the horns of other animals.Giraffe skin is blotched in
patterns of browns and yellows. No two have the same pattern. The
different sub-species have different coat patterns.
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Giraffes inhabit central, eastern and southern Africa.They live on the savannah, which is
the African grassland, or in light woodland. They do not live in thick forests where it is
difficult to see predators such as lions when they approach.
Giraffes live in groups called herds, although the members of a herd come and go. They
don't stay together all the time.
Food - acacia tree
Giraffes are browsers, or leaf eaters. Their long necks help them reach
high into trees to eat the leaves. Although they feed 16 to 20 hours a
day, it may consume only about 65 pounds of foliage during that time.
They have 45-50 cm long blue-black tongues that wrap around leaves and
pick them from the branch. The long muscular tongue helps them get
leaves just out of reach.Thanks to its dark colour,
the tongue does not get sunburnt when it is out of
the mouth.
Leaves give giraffes most of the moisture they
need so that they do not often have to drink water.
Water holes are places where predators wait, and it is hard for a
giraffe to lower its head to drink. It has to spread its front legs
wide to be able to get its head down. When its head is low, it is
easier for predators to attack. Therefore, a giraffe only drinks
about once a day, up to 40 litres each time.
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Giraffes' long legs mean they take big steps when they walk or run. One
step can be about
5 metres long. They can run very fast, reaching speeds of about nearly 60
km per hour. Because of their long legs and short bodies, giraffes move
differently from other four legged animals. They move the two legs on one
side of the body forward, then the two legs on the other side. This keeps them from
tripping over.
Because of their long necks, giraffes have big hearts to pump blood all the way up to the
brain. A giraffe heart is the biggest of any animal's. There are special valves in the neck
arteries so that when the giraffe bends its neck down, the blood doesn't rush to its head.
When the head is raised again, the blood doesn't rush back down to the heart. Such rapid
changes in blood pressure would make a giraffe faint.
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Female giraffes give birth to a calf after a gestation period of about 15 months. The calf
is about 2 metres tall, and during its first week it grows about a
centimetre a day. About an hour after birth, the calf can walk. It
suckles milk from its mother, but starts nibbling at other food after a
few days.
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Although giraffes are peaceful animals, they will defend themselves
from lions, leopards and hyenas which attack the young, and sometimes
adult giraffes. Giraffes give powerful kicks with all four legs, and a well
placed kick can kill a lion. Sometimes male giraffes fight each other to
decide which is stronger. They swing their necks, using their horns like
hammers to hit each other.
People think that giraffes are unable to make sounds, but they can. They do not often do
it. They can make a moo, bleat or grunt. When alarmed, they snort.
Giraffes rarely sleep. In fact, they only go into a deep sleep for about 20 minutes each 24
hours, resting their heads on their hindquarters. The rest of the time, they doze now and
then.
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Adult giraffes have few enemies, but young calves can be killed by leopards and hyenas.
The most serious danger comes from humans who hunt giraffes for their skins. Giraffe
tails are highly prized by many African cultures. The desire for good-luck bracelets, fly
whisks and thread for sewing or stringing beads have led people to kill the giraffe for its
tail alone. Giraffes are easily killed and poaching (now more often for their meat and hide)
continues today, even though it is against the law to hunt giraffes.

Give the right headings to the parts of text above.

Threats to giraffe Movement Self defence

Habitat Reproduction
 GIRAFFE FACTFILE
HABITAT

LIFESPAN
HEIGHT - MALES
- FEMALES
NUMBER OF SUB-SPECIES
TYPE OF FOOD THEY EAT
AMOUNT OF FOOD THEY EAT
LENGTH OF TONGUE
SPEED
OFFSPRING (NUMBER)
ENEMIES IN THE WILD
METHODS OF SELF-DEFENCE

SOUNDS THEY PRODUCE

Questions:

1. Why do giraffes have:

➢ dark tongues?

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➢ big hearts ?

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➢ special valves in the neck?

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2. What do giraffes need their long necks for?.....................................................................
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3. Why don't giraffes need to drink very often? ..................................................................
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4. Why do some people hunt giraffes? .....................................................................................
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5. How do giraffes sleep? ............................................................................................................
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