10 Surprising Facts About Giraffes

The giraffe is perhaps the only animal in the whole world that is fundamentally different from other inhabitants of this planet. These unique and bizarre creatures have always attracted the attention of others with their unusual appearance (especially with a long neck, right?), But giraffes are also famous for other unique abilities and properties that not many people probably know about. Further in this collection, we will consecrate the 10 most curious facts about these interesting long-necked animals.

9 PHOTOS

1. Of all land dwellers, giraffes are the tallest. Their length can be up to 6 meters in length, while a third of the growth falls on the neck. The weight of an adult giraffe can exceed a ton, which means that its neck weighs approximately 250-300 kg.

2. These amazing creatures can stick their tongue out of their mouths by almost half a meter! Thanks to such excellent data, giraffes can independently reach their own ears with their tongues for hygiene purposes. Oh yeah, giraffes have black tongues.

3. The pattern of spots on the skin of a giraffe is as individual as the fingerprints of a person or the stripes of a tiger. The spots on the body of giraffes are programmed in the womb of the mother. By the way, the darker the spots of a giraffe, the older its age.

4. Giraffes are noble "gourmets". They eat raw onions with great pleasure, although acacia leaves remain their favorite delicacy. Also, giraffes are able to explore a territory of up to 100 square meters. km. in search of food. It is also worth noting that giraffes are usually busy eating up to 20 hours a day, although an adult animal needs 6 kg of leaves per day.

5. Despite their long necks, giraffes often simply do not reach the ground with their heads. Therefore, to drink water or eat grass, they kneel or spread their legs to the sides, thereby reducing their height.

6. Giraffes rarely sleep more than an hour and a half a day. Most often, animals fall asleep standing up, and their sleep is very fitful and lasts only 10-15 minutes. If the giraffe is very tired, he bends his legs and throws his head back. Giraffes also lack the ability to yawn. Well, at least no scientist has caught them doing this yet.

7. Pregnancy in female giraffes lasts about 14 months, one and a half times longer than in humans. The first thing a baby giraffe does at birth falls from a height of 2 meters. Newborn giraffes take their first steps within an hour of being born.

8. In addition to the prominent neck and tongue, giraffes overtake all other mammals in terms of the length of the tail - it can reach a length of 2.5 meters.

9. Mothers of young giraffes are still mothers. They often organize a kindergarten: one adult female remains to look after the cubs, and all the rest go to get food in a friendly crowd.

10. Most predators do not risk preying on giraffes, as they are capable of inflicting serious injuries on them with their powerful hooves. However, the only predator that leaves no attempts to attack them is the lion.