Curious facts about giraffes. Giraffe is the tallest animal in the world Life of a giraffe in the wild

The giraffe is a very elegant and unusual animal, whose beauty and grace are simply off the charts. Interesting fact– even those who have never seen a giraffe in person feel extreme sympathy for it.

The animal belongs to the class of mammals and the order of artiodactyl ruminants, to the giraffe family and the genus Giraffe.

Peculiarities

Great interest in this animal is due to its unique dimensions, because the giraffe is the most tall mammal in the world. The growth of a giraffe can reach five and a half meters, and some individuals grow above 6 m. The length of the neck is a full third of its entire height.

An adult can weigh up to two tons, while average weight giraffe ranges from 500 to 1900 kg.

Blood is pumped through the vessels in the giraffe's body by a powerful heart, weighing 12 kg. This powerful organ allows you to pump up to 60 liters of blood per minute, creating blood pressure three times higher than human.

Taking into account the length of the neck, it can be assumed that with a sharp change in the position of the head, tilting or turning, the giraffe experiences discomfort and loss of orientation due to deterioration in well-being. But high blood density prevents such problems from arising. In addition, the main vein in the neck is designed so that, if necessary, the locking valves located in it are activated. Long neck Its structure is no different from the neck of other mammals and consists of 7 vertebrae. But the length of each of them reaches an average of 25 centimeters.

What color is a giraffe

Giraffe color worthy of detailed consideration. Its coat color is orange-yellow, with pronounced brown spots all over its body.

The spotted pattern is absolutely unique in each individual and is never repeated. An analogy can be drawn with human fingerprints. Just like a human, the pattern of a fingerprint is unique, and a giraffe has a unique shape and size of spots on its body.

On the head there is a pair of small horns with characteristic short fur, and along the entire length of the neck there is a small mane of a darker color.

Giraffe tongue

The language of this mammal is no less unique. than himself. IN everyday life The giraffe uses its tongue for the following procedures:

• grab and tear leaves and branches from a great height;
• clean the face;
• clean ears;

Although the height of the giraffe allows him to reach any leaves and branches he likes from trees, even those located in the highest and most inaccessible places, some branches may be too high. In this case, he uses his tongue, which can extend almost half a meter and, bending, grab tasty branches.

Giraffe legs

The mammal's legs look very skinny compared to a more massive and voluminous body. However, they should not be considered flimsy or in any way weak. The animal stands confidently on its feet and jumps beautifully, even despite heavy weight. When jumping, the mammal can overcome obstacles up to one and a half meters in height.

In running, the animal can also give many of its relatives a head start. The speed that this tall runner can reach reaches 60 km/h. But he only possesses such agility while he is on the plain. He does not feel so comfortable on swampy soil and in the river and tries to avoid these places.

All species, of which there were only 5, became extinct. Now you can find only one species, which is classified based on the area where the giraffe lives. Another difference is the shape of the patterns on his body.

Types of giraffes:

What and how does a giraffe eat?

The animal eats exclusively plant foods. Its stomach consists of four chambers, which allows it to digest food more thoroughly when feeding. Coarse branches and leaves, already crushed by the jaws and entering the first chamber of the stomach, are regurgitated for repeated chewing.

The main diet of a mammal includes:

• acacia;
• wild apricot shoots;
• mimosa.

The animal eats food almost constantly. It can spend up to 20 hours a day doing this activity. The amount of food consumed per day is quite large and can weigh up to 30 kg.

The giraffe survives without moisture for a very long time thanks to the leaves included in its diet. The liquid contained in them helps him with this.

The giraffe drinks with its legs spread wide and its neck bent low directly towards the water. In one go he can drink up to 40 liters of water.

Reproduction

Since this tall, handsome man prefers to live alone, for safety reasons he lives close to antelopes or zebras who live in large herds. Sometimes animals still gather in herds of several individuals, but there is usually only one male among them.

Males very jealously guard their females, not allowing strangers near them. At the same time, they are not averse to mating with other females if such an opportunity arises.

The giraffe's mating season lasts from July to September., at this time the rainy season begins in Africa. Due to the fact that pregnancy in females lasts up to 15 months, the cub is born in dry weather, which gives it the opportunity to quickly get on its feet.

An interesting fact is that at birth, the cubs simply fall from a height of two meters. This happens because the female only assumes a standing position during childbirth.

The young individual weighs about one hundred kilograms, and its height does not exceed one and a half meters. It lacks the horns that adult animals have. In their place is a small cartilage covered with black hairs.

Unfortunately, in a newborn individual are very large risks of dying. They are often victims of attacks by leopards and lions, as well as hyenas, who prefer to attack weaker individuals, including small cubs.

The giraffe prefers warm areas to live; it is distinguished by its amazing appearance and habits.

It is classified among mammals and the order of artiodactyl ruminants, the giraffe family, and also the genus of giraffes.

What kind of animal is this, its appearance, characteristics

Let's start with the fact that this animal is considered the tallest on the planet. Giraffes various types are capable of growing in the region of 5.5-6.1 meters, however, a third of this size is the animal’s legendary neck.

A male can weigh approximately 500 kilograms and up to 1,900 kg. Moreover, his heart can weigh about 12 kilograms. Within a minute, sixty liters of this red liquid are distilled using the power of the valves.

Experts have found that the inside of the vessels experiences enormous pressure, as it is approximately three times higher than human levels. The blood density of this animal is very high and this allows the giraffe to maintain its normal condition even with sudden movements of its huge neck.

Externally, the length of the giraffe's neck is impressive in size, however, it is formed on the basis of standards for mammals and consists of seven cervical vertebrae, each 25 centimeters long. Photos of giraffes attract a lot of people's attention and are often used for advertising purposes.

However, few people know that his neck is created in a very clever way, as the jugular vein has a unique valve-based design that allows blood to flow evenly based on a constant level of pressure.

The functions of the giraffe's tongue are amazing in their variety of possibilities.

The giraffe animal stands out among the rest precisely due to its amazing language. It is characterized by muscle development.

With its help, the animal easily swallows branches with various trees, located quite high due to the fact that the tongue is able to protrude from the mouth by about 40-45 centimeters.

Giraffes also use its length to clean their own ears.

What are the colors of giraffes and its other features?

First of all, you need to pay attention to the fact that all patterns from visible spots of giraffes are unique and are never repeated among their relatives.

On the head of males or females you can always see a pair of small horns, noticeably covered with fur.

And it is also worth paying attention to his large eyes, located in a border of elongated eyelashes. And small ears complete the image of his elongated head.

What's interesting about giraffe feet?

They are noticeably slender and stand out in relation to other parts of the body.

Many people consider them to be very slow, however, this is a mistaken opinion, since a frightened giraffe can run at a speed of 60 km/h.

If necessary, he is able to make a jump of 1.5-2 meters. However, for such agility he needs a hard and preferably even surface.

Because of this, giraffes rarely visit swampy areas or areas near rivers.

How do these giants sleep?

Few people saw him doing this. However, scientists have found that for this process the giraffe prefers to bend its legs closer to the body, and the animal places one of them under its head.

However, the body structure allows the giraffe to sleep even while on its feet.

The sleeping period of this giant animal does not last long, since the giraffe must often get up to drink water or have something to eat.

For the most part, the giraffe, like other mammals, likes to sleep at night. During the day he needs to sleep no more than two hours. Sometimes this procedure may only take 10 minutes.

The number of giraffe species is not amazingly diverse

In fact, there is only one in the giraffe family known to science type of giraffe. However, evidence of the existence of 5 more species has been found, but all of them are considered extinct.

Giraffes are classified according to where they live and the patterns of spots that adorn their bodies.

There are several subspecies of this animal; now we will find out where the giraffes belonging to them live:

The habitat of the Nubian subspecies is considered to be the lands of eastern Sudan, and it is found in the western part of Ethiopia.

It is distinguished by its unique color based on chestnut-colored spots and bright white lines, distinguished by the beauty of its cut. In males, a very coarse growth along the entire frontal lobe is clearly visible.

The Ugandan subspecies of giraffe, often called the Rothschild giraffe, lives in Uganda.

Stands out in spots large size, different brown, separated from each other by a wide range of very beautiful light lines.

The reticulated Somali subspecies of this animal has been spotted in the vast expanses of northern Kenya and southern Somalia.

It is distinguished by a mesh-shaped arrangement of spots that have a brown color, giving off a pronounced redness with medium size and sharp edges, ending with thin white lines.

The Angolan subspecies of this animal is mainly seen throughout Namibia and even nearby Botswana. It is highlighted by brown spots based on elongated accent corners.

The subspecies called Kordofan is found in the western part of Sudan and the Central African Republic. Its spots are unevenly distributed, since their bulk is concentrated slightly below the unique joints used for jumping.

The Masai subspecies of the animal has been spotted throughout southern Kenya and Tanzania. Its spots mainly cover the legs, and they are shaped like a star.

Representatives of the South African subspecies were spotted across three countries. They have been seen in Zimbabwe, sometimes in Mozambique and less often in South Africa. Features a golden skin with a set dark spots round in shape sometimes reaching his hooves.

A subspecies of Thornycroft's giraffe is found in the vastness of Zambia. It has a light skin and jagged spots on a medium-sized base.

The West African subspecies of giraffe is now on the verge of extinction. According to information from scientists in 2007, it is known that only 175 individuals belonging to this subspecies were seen then. They live in the vastness of Chad.

What do giraffes like to eat?

What food can satisfy the needs of this giant animal? What do giraffes eat to provide energy for their huge bodies?

They have a stomach consisting of four chambers. It allows you to easily digest any plant. Due to their powerful jaws, giraffes quickly cope with various leaves that differ in rough shape; they often use immature shrubs.

However, their favorite foods to eat are acacia, mimosa leaves and wild apricot.

Every day this giant has to digest approximately 30 kilograms of various foods. During the day it allocates at least 16 hours, and sometimes more, for the process of eating various plants.

If an animal has the opportunity to regularly feed on succulent leaves, then it is able to refuse to take water for a large amount of time.

If a giraffe decides to drink water, then it needs to spread its front legs to the side and lower its head towards the source of liquid. During this procedure, he can drink approximately 38-40 liters of water.

Giraffe photo

In the Middle Ages, there were many legends about an animal with cow hooves, similar to a camel, but with spotted coloring, wandering across the plains of Africa. Now everyone in this description recognizes the inhabitant of the shroud, the giraffe, who, like in ancient times, travels across the African plains. But today, the habitat of giraffes has decreased significantly. This happened for two main reasons: the mass extermination of animals by humans and the anthropogenic destruction of the natural habitat.

Nowadays animals inhabit only small quantity territory of the former range.

Where do giraffes live?

According to scientists, the first giraffes appeared about 15 million years ago in Central Asia, from where they later settled in Europe and Africa. The most ancient remains of giraffes were found in Africa and Israel. Their approximate age is 1.5 million years.

In ancient times, giraffes inhabited almost the entire African continent. They even lived in the Nile Delta in Ancient Egypt and on the banks Mediterranean Sea. And also, about 1,400 years ago, giraffes were common representatives of the fauna of Morocco.

Giraffes live on the savanna plains, where their main food, acacia, is almost always abundant. Read more about giraffe nutrition in the article. The bulk of giraffes live in Southern and Eastern Africa. They live in herds of no more than 30 individuals. Such groups consist of relatives and lonely giraffes accepted into the herd. The size of the herd may change, some individuals may leave, while others may come.

In the giraffe family, there are also subspecies that inhabit various African countries. Now there are 9 subspecies of giraffes in the world, the most famous is Masai giraffe, he resides in Kenya and Tanzania. Second in number, as well as in fame - reticulated giraffe, lives in the vastness of southern Somalia and eastern Kenya. View Rothschild's giraffe found in Uganda and in the Lake Baringo region in Kenya. South African giraffe lives in South Africa, Mozambique and Zimbabwe. Nubian giraffe- inhabitant of the fauna of eastern Sudan and Western Ethiopia. Kordofan giraffe is a resident of the Central African Republic and western Sudan. Thornycroft's giraffe lives in Zambia. West African giraffe once found throughout the territory West Africa, now only to Chad. Angolan giraffe lives in Botswana and Namibia. In the country after which it was named, the subspecies was completely destroyed.

Today the largest population of giraffes, about 13 thousand individuals, lives in national reserve Serengeti. It is located on the territory of two states, Tanzania and Kenya. Total quantity giraffes, 110,000 - 150,000 individuals, lives in natural environment habitat in national parks and reserves in Africa. Although giraffes are not considered an endangered species, their numbers are quite small.

Giraffe habitats on the map

GIRAFFE (Giraffa cameleopardalis) This animal is found throughout almost all of sub-Saharan Africa. The appearance of the giraffe is so unique that it cannot be confused with any other animal: a relatively small head on a disproportionately long neck, a sloping back, long legs. The giraffe is the tallest living mammal: its height from the ground to the forehead reaches 4.8-5.8 m. The weight of an adult male is about 750 kg, females are somewhat lighter.

The giraffe's eyes are black, fringed with thick eyelashes, and its ears are short and narrow. Both males and females have small horns on their foreheads. The horns are covered with wool, sometimes there is only one pair, but sometimes there are two. In addition, there is often a special bony outgrowth in the middle of the forehead, reminiscent of an additional (unpaired) horn. The coloration of the giraffe varies greatly, and in the past zoologists even distinguished several types of giraffes on this basis. Differently colored giraffes can interbreed. In addition, even in the same place, in the same herd, significant individual color deviations occur. They say that it is generally impossible to find two completely identically colored giraffes: the spotted pattern is unique, like a fingerprint. Therefore, color variations can only be taken, with a certain stretch, as subspecies.

The most famous is the so-called Massai giraffe, which inhabits the savannas. East Africa. The main background of its color is yellowish-red; chocolate-brown colors are scattered randomly across this background. irregular shape spots. Another type of coloration is the reticulated giraffe, which is found in the wooded areas of Somalia and Northern Kenya. In the reticulated giraffe, the polygon-shaped spots almost merge with the background yellow It consists of only sparse stripes, as if a golden net had been draped over the animal. These are the most beautiful giraffes.

Young animals are always lighter in color than older ones. White giraffes are extremely rare. They have dark eyes, and they cannot be called albinos (in the strict sense of the word). Such animals are found in various parts Africa - in Garamba National Park (Congo), in Kenya, in Northern Tanzania. The seemingly overly bright variegated coloring of giraffes actually perfectly camouflages the animals. When several giraffes stand in a group of umbrella acacias, among the burnt out bushes of the African bush, under the sheer rays of the sun, a mosaic of shadows and sunspots as if it dissolves and eats the contours of animals. At first, you suddenly notice with surprise that one of the trunks is not a trunk at all, but the neck of a giraffe. Behind it, as on a developing photographic plate, suddenly appears a second, third, fourth.

Savannas and sparse dry forests - favorite places giraffe habitats. Here animals find abundant food in the form of young shoots and buds of umbrella acacias, mimosa and other trees. By using long tongue A giraffe can pick leaves even from branches densely covered with large thorns. Giraffes rarely eat grassy vegetation: in order to graze, the animal has to spread its front legs wide apart or even go down on its knees. Giraffes are forced to take the same uncomfortable position at a watering hole. True, this does not happen often, since giraffes satisfy their need for water mainly through succulent food and go without water for several weeks. Giraffes rarely live alone. They usually form small herds (7-12 individuals), although sometimes up to 50-70 animals gather.

Only old males are alienated from their fellow tribesmen. Often a group of giraffes unites with antelopes, zebras, and ostriches, but this connection is short-lived and unstable. Within the herd of giraffes, a hierarchy of subordination is strictly observed, as is well known for many other herd animals. The outward expression of such a hierarchy is that the lowest in rank cannot cross the path of the highest. The latter, in turn, holds his neck and head higher, while the lower in rank always lowers his neck somewhat in his presence. However, giraffes are peace-loving animals, and rivalry among them almost never manifests itself in the form of a fight. Well, if there is still a need to find out the seniority in the herd, a kind of duel takes place between the largest males. It begins with a challenge: the applicant for the highest rank goes towards the enemy with an arched neck and lowered head, threatening him with his horns. These, in general, harmless horns, together with a heavy head, constitute the giraffe’s main weapon in the fight for primacy. If the opponent does not retreat and accepts the challenge, the animals stand shoulder to shoulder almost closely and exchange blows with the head and neck.

Giraffes never use it against their fellow tribesmen heavy weapons- a kick with the front leg that has exceptional power. Sometimes wrestling giraffes move slowly around the tree, trying to pin each other to the trunk. The duel can last up to a quarter of an hour and arouses keen interest of the entire herd. But it is enough for someone who admits himself to be defeated to take a few steps to the side, and the winner’s aggressive mood changes: he never expels his opponent from the herd, as happens with horses, antelopes and other herd animals. At first glance, outwardly awkward, giraffes are in fact perfectly adapted to life in the savannah: they see far and hear perfectly. Interestingly, no one has ever heard the voices of giraffes. Giraffes usually move at a pace, like pacers (first both right legs are in motion at the same time, then both left legs, etc.). Only in cases of extreme necessity do giraffes switch to an awkward, seemingly slow gallop, but they do not maintain this gait for long, no more than 2-3 minutes.

The gallop of giraffes is very peculiar: the animal can simultaneously lift both front legs off the ground, only by throwing its neck and head far back and thus shifting its center of gravity. Therefore, a galloping giraffe constantly nods deeply, bows, as it were, with every jump. This seemingly clumsy manner of galloping does not prevent him from reaching speeds of up to 50 km/h. Giraffes can also jump. They demonstrate such abilities by jumping over barbed wire fences that border plantations and sheep pastures in Africa. To the surprise of farmers, the animals have learned to overcome barriers up to 1.85 m high. Approaching the fence, the giraffe throws its neck back, throws its front legs over it, and then jumps with its hind legs, only slightly touching the top row of wire. But they are never used to electrical wires and often cause a short circuit, dying in the process.

Water obstacles seem to create great difficulties for giraffes, although the zoologist Sheriner once saw three giraffes swimming across the Nile branch in South Sudan: only their heads and necks, two-thirds submerged, were visible from the water. Giraffes are diurnal animals. They usually feed in the morning and in the afternoon, and spend the hottest hours half asleep, standing in the shade of acacia trees. At this time, giraffes chew cud, their eyes are half-closed, but their ears are in constant movement. Giraffes get real sleep at night. Then they lie down on the ground, tucking their front legs and one of their hind legs under them, and place their head on the other hind leg, extended to the side. The long neck turns out to be curved back like an arch. This sleep is often interrupted, the animals get up, then lie down again.

The total duration of complete deep sleep in adult animals is amazingly small: it does not exceed 20 minutes throughout the night! The rutting period for giraffes begins in July and lasts about two months. Pregnancy lasts 420-450 days, and a newborn giraffe weighs up to 70 kg with a height of 1.7-2 m. During childbirth, the female does not lie down on the ground; the herd surrounds her in a tight ring, protecting her from possible danger, and then welcomes the new member with gentle touches of their noses. Giraffes have few natural enemies. Of the predators, only lions attack them, and even then relatively rarely. A pride of lions easily copes with even a large male giraffe and then feasts on the prey for several days. But the giraffe successfully defends itself against a solitary predator by striking its front legs. Usually the lion jumps on the back of the giraffe and bites its cervical vertebrae. There is a known case when a lion missed while jumping and was met with a powerful blow from its hooves to the chest. Observer (employee of one of the national parks), seeing that the lion did not rise after falling, came closer and, after waiting more than an hour, shot the crippled beast.

The lion's chest was crushed and almost all of its ribs were broken. Sometimes giraffes die while feeding, getting their heads entangled in tree branches. Sometimes childbirth takes a tragic turn. But the main enemy of giraffes was, and still is, man. True, in our time little is hunted for giraffes. The first white settlers exterminated giraffes en masse for the sake of their skins, from which they made leather for the tops of Boer carts, belts and whips. Africans make shields from skins, and strings from sinews. musical instruments, and bracelets are woven from the hair of the tail tassels (like ivory hair bracelets). Giraffe meat is edible. Vigorous pursuit by humans has led to the fact that giraffes are now preserved in large quantities only in national parks and reserves. Giraffes have been kept in zoos for a long time. Even the Egyptians (around 1500 BC) and the Romans (during the time of Caesar) kept giraffes in menageries and bestiaries. The first giraffes appeared in London, Paris and Berlin in the 20s of the 19th century, and they were transported to sailing ships and walked across Europe. Giraffes are now kept in almost all major zoos in the world and reproduce well in captivity. The lifespan of these animals is more than 20 years (the record is 28 years).

Their diet consists of hay, apples, radishes, onions, carrots, and occasionally bananas. In summer, giraffes add fresh branches to this deciduous trees, and in winter - sprouted oats and brooms prepared from the summer. For a long time The giraffe presented a mystery to physiologists. Indeed, when feeding in the treetops, the giraffe’s head is at a height of almost 7 m. Blood must be transported from the heart to the brain to the same height. The pressure created by the heart required for this is 300 mmHg. Art. If a giraffe lowers its head and then suddenly raises it, a sharp pressure drop will be created in the brain, and blood from the jugular vein will overload the heart. You can’t approach such overloads with human standards! The answer to the question was found by zoologist Gaetz from Cape Town. A giraffe's blood is thicker than other mammals. Compared to humans, giraffes have twice the amount of red blood cells.

The giraffe's heart passes about 60 liters (!) of blood per minute. Using an electrical sensor inserted into the giraffe's cervical artery to the very base of the brain, Goetz found that when the head is raised, the blood pressure is 200 mmHg, and when it is sharply lowered, contrary to logic, it drops to only 175 mmHg. Art. The solution to the mystery lay in special locking valves in the great jugular vein. These valves can interrupt the flow of blood so that the pressure in the main artery remains elevated even though the pressure in other, smaller arteries (also with valves) drops sharply. The powerful jugular vein acts as a blood depot, equalizing pressure in the brain.

This is how giraffes escape from predators.

Well, it's a joke, a joke...

Giraffe and okapi ( Okapia johnstoni) are the only modern representatives of the giraffe family (Giraffidae). It appeared in Central Asia in the early or middle Miocene, i.e. approximately 15 million years ago, and spread from there to Europe and Africa. The oldest remains of a modern giraffe were found in Israel and Africa and date back to the early Pleistocene, i.e. their age is approx. 1.5 million years. The range of the modern giraffe has greatly decreased as a result of human hunting and anthropogenic changes in the environment. The species was found in northern Africa (in Morocco) 1,400 years ago, and in many areas in the west and south of the continent it was exterminated only in the last century. There are usually nine geographical races, or subspecies, distributed from Mali in the west to Somalia in the east and South Africa in the south.

interesting facts about giraffes:

* The giraffe has 7 cervical vertebrae, like other mammals (only they are much larger). Moreover, the animal’s neck weighs 250 kg.

* An adult giraffe weighs 1-2 tons, females are on average two times lighter.

* Male giraffes often sort things out with the help of arm wrestling, but not with their hands, but with their necks.

* Man has revered these animals since ancient times. Images of giraffes have been found in ancient African settlements and on Egyptian art.

* The blood vessels located in the giraffe's neck are extremely elastic and resilient. This is “done” so that the giraffe can tilt its head to the ground, for example, to drink water, and not lose consciousness from deteriorating blood supply.

* There are several types of giraffes: Kordofanian, Angolan, southern, Nigerian, Masai and others.

* In the first 3-5 months of life, baby giraffes gather in packs called nurseries to play together. Meanwhile, their mothers are grazing nearby.

* A giraffe's tongue is about 45 cm long.

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* Giraffes live in African savannah and in the acacia thickets in the south of the Sahara Desert.

* The giraffe is one of the few animals that uses primarily its front legs when running.

* A giraffe's heart weighs more than 10 kg.

* The giraffe's stride is more than 4 meters. When he walks calmly, you will have to run to keep up.

* Giraffes have a relative - an animal called okapi. It has a much shorter neck, it is found in the forests of the Congo and is not a herd animal, but an independent one.

* Newborn giraffe calves begin their lives by falling from a height of 2 meters

* Despite the fact that most of the time giraffes do not make sounds, their cubs moo and bleat, males growl during fights, it is also noticed that they sometimes snore, moan, hiss and make sounds similar to the sounds of a flute.

* Herds of giraffes do not have a clear organization and hierarchy. They can contain animals of both sexes and all ages, and access to outsiders is open.

* Males and females eat leaves from different parts tree to avoid fighting for food.

* A giraffe lives on average 20-25 years.

*The scientific name of the giraffe is camelopardalis. It comes from the Latin cameleopard (camel+leopard). This name is in Ancient Rome They were given it because the animals were large, like a camel, and with spots like a leopard. Moreover, they can long time live without water like camels.

* Baby giraffes already have horns at birth.

* A giraffe's sleep time is no more than 10 minutes, and it spends almost its entire life standing.

* A giraffe can run at speeds of up to 50 km/h.

* The spots on a giraffe's skin are unique, like a human fingerprint.

* A female giraffe carries her baby for 14 months.

* In one sitting, a giraffe can drink up to 6 buckets of water.

* Giraffe is the tallest animal in the world.

* In these animals good eyesight, which combined with high growth allows you to see far. Giraffes can be located at distances of up to a kilometer and still belong to the same herd.

* Giraffa means "fast walker" in the Aboriginal language.

And this giraffe just came from McDonald's:

One of the first giraffes in a zoo appeared in France in 1826. He covered the 860 kilometers from Marseille to Paris in 41 days, accompanied by a detachment of mounted gendarmes. In Paris, the animal caused a sensation. From July to December 1827, 600 thousand people came to the zoo to see the giraffe. Hairstyles “a la giraffe” and a lot of all sorts of items with giraffe symbols appeared. Even the piano, invented in 1819, was renamed the giraffiano. But this name did not stick. In Russia, the first giraffe was demonstrated in 1878 in St. Petersburg. We are now home to the world's most famous family of giraffes.

Its ancestors, Boy and Juliet, who came to Leningrad from Southern Rhodesia, lived 29 and 29.5 years, setting a record for the life expectancy of giraffes. This couple gave birth to 13 cubs - this is also a record. Then their daughters began to bear offspring. In total, 34 giraffes were born in our zoo. By the way, giraffes carry their babies for a very long time - as much as fourteen months. But they are also born large. The average height of our giraffes is 1m 61cm, and their weight is 50-60 kg. And this is at birth.

We try to give the giraffes “Leningrad” names. We lived with Neva, Ladoga, Okhta, Onega, Aurora, St. Petersburg, and Oreshek. There was one female with a strange name - Element. She now lives in Kyiv, and got her name because she was born on the night of a very heavy flood in the fall of 1975.

And our giraffe Ida has been living in the Kaliningrad Zoo since the fall of 1996. It is named after the head of the ungulate sector of our zoo, Ida Dmitrievna Rozhdestvenskaya, who worked for us for about 40 years and took in almost all the giraffes that were born.

And of course, the Giraffe is one of the symbols of Africa. Remember the silhouettes against the background of the setting sun...

Do you believe that it can be , No? Check..

The original article is on the website InfoGlaz.rf Link to the article from which this copy was made -

It is the tallest land animal on the planet.

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✪ "Giraffe". Nikolay Gumilyov. Melodeclamation

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Children's song "The giraffe has spots" Songs for children with movements Children's channel Lyulyabi TV Giraffes have spots, spots, spots, spots everywhere. Giraffes have a lot of spots! There’s even one – on the beard! On the forehead, ears, neck, elbows, noses, bellies, knees and socks. On the forehead, ears, neck, elbows, noses, bellies, knees and socks. Elephants have folds, folds, folds, folds everywhere. Elephants have a lot of sweets! There’s even one – on the beard! On the forehead, ears, neck, elbows, noses, bellies, knees and socks. On the forehead, ears, neck, elbows, noses, bellies, knees and socks. Kittens have fur, fur, fur, fur everywhere. Kittens have fur all over them! There’s even some – and on the tail! On the forehead, ears, neck, elbows, noses, bellies, knees and socks. On the forehead, ears, neck, elbows, noses, bellies, knees and socks. And the zebra has stripes, there are stripes everywhere. And the zebra has stripes, there are stripes on his back! On the forehead, ears, neck, elbows, noses, bellies, knees and socks. On the forehead, ears, neck, elbows, noses, bellies, knees and socks. Giraffes have spots, spots, spots, spots everywhere. Elephants have a lot of sweets! There’s even one – on the beard! Kittens have fur all over them! There’s even some – and on the tail! And the zebra has stripes, there are stripes on his back! Kittens have fur all over them! There’s even some – and on the tail! Kittens have fur all over them! There’s even some – and on the tail! And the zebra has stripes, there are stripes on his back!

Characteristic

Male giraffes reach a height of up to 5.5-6.1 (about 1/3 of the length is the neck) and weigh up to 900-1200 kg. Females tend to be slightly smaller and lighter. Giraffes have an unusually long neck, despite the fact that they, like almost all other mammals, have only seven cervical vertebrae. Tall increases the load on the circulatory system, especially in relation to the supply to the brain. Therefore, giraffes have especially strong hearts. It passes 60 liters of blood per minute, weighs 12 kg and creates a pressure that is three times higher than that of a person. However, it would not be able to withstand the overload of the sudden lowering and raising of the giraffe's head. To ensure that such movements do not cause the death of the animal, the giraffe's blood is thicker and has twice the density of blood cells than that of humans. In addition, the giraffe has special shut-off valves in the great jugular vein, interrupting the flow of blood so that pressure is maintained in the main artery supplying the brain. The giraffe's dark tongue is very long and muscular: the giraffe can protrude it up to 45 cm and is able to grab branches with it.

Giraffes live alone or in small herds that are not particularly attached to each other. The area they travel around in search of food can be up to 100 km². Social behavior depends on gender: females adhere to herds of 4 to 32 individuals, in which the composition changes from time to time. The hierarchical structures and behavior of giraffes in a herd are not yet fully understood. Giraffes do not have a single leader, but older and stronger males, called elders, have an advantage over others. Young males before reaching sexual maturity are also small separate groups, after which they begin to live alone. Giraffes often move with herds of antelopes or zebras, as this gives them greater safety. When two adult males meet, it often comes down to a ritual duel, in which they stand next to each other and try to headbutt the opponent’s neck. However, unlike other social animals, defeated male giraffes are not expelled from the herd. During mating periods, fights between males are more aggressive in nature and can reach such desperation that one of the competitors may eventually be “beaten” until he loses consciousness. An option for a showdown could be a duel near a tree, in which everyone tries to get around their opponent in such a way as to pin him to the trunk. There were no cases of giraffes using their dangerous front hooves against each other, as they usually do against predators.

It is widely believed that giraffes are voiceless animals. However, in reality they communicate with each other at frequencies below 20 Hz, inaudible to the human ear.

The mating season usually lasts from July to September, and the gestation period is 14-15 months. As a rule, only one cub is born. Birth occurs in a standing position, so the first thing a newborn will experience is a fall from a height of two meters. Immediately after birth, the baby giraffe reaches 1.8 m in height and 50 kg. After just an hour, the cub stands firmly on its feet and after a few hours begins to run. However, cubs are allowed into the herd only after two to three weeks. The offspring stays with the mother for about a year and a half. At the age of four the giraffe reaches sexual maturity, at the age of six it reaches full height. IN wildlife Life expectancy is about 25 years, in captivity about 35.

Due to its size, the giraffe has little natural enemies, and from those few predators that dare to attack him, he defends himself quite effectively with blows from his front hooves. Such a blow can crush the skull of any predator. In Etosha National Park, lions were once observed to jump on a giraffe and bite its neck. However, attacks on adult giraffes are still rare. More often, young animals become prey for lions, leopards, hyenas and wild dogs. Despite maternal protection, only 25-50% of young giraffes reach adulthood.

Giraffe and man

North African populations were already hunted in ancient times by the Greeks and Romans. Sometimes giraffes were even used for displays in the Colosseum. In general, the giraffe was little known in Europe. Although the constellation Giraffe exists in the northern hemisphere, it is a relatively new convention and has no mythological origin. In black Africa, giraffes were hunted by digging holes and traps. Their long tendons were used to string bows and strings of musical instruments; clothing made from giraffe skin served as a symbol among many peoples. high status. Giraffe meat is tough, but edible. The hunting of giraffes by African tribes has never reached a scale that could seriously threaten their numbers. With the arrival of white settlers, the main motive for hunting giraffes became entertainment, and the number of giraffes began to decline sharply. Today, giraffes are rare animals almost everywhere. Only in the states of East Africa do large populations still exist. The total number of giraffes is estimated at 110,000-150,000. There are about 13 thousand individuals in the Serengeti Nature Reserve. In general, giraffes are not considered a critically endangered species. Today they are kept in many large zoos around the world and successfully breed in captivity.

Based on their patterns and places of origin, giraffes are divided into subspecies. Crossbreeding is possible between individual subspecies. There are nine modern subspecies:

• Nubian giraffe (G. c. camelopardalis) is the nominate subspecies. Inhabits eastern Sudan, western Ethiopia
• Giraffa camelopardalis peralta Thomas, 1898 - Kenya to Angola, the country after which it was named.

  Initially, subspecies of giraffes were considered independent species. Then this point of view was rejected, and scientists debated the delimitation of individual subspecies. There are often differences in pattern even within closely related herds. Therefore, some researchers were of the opinion that the characteristics of giraffe subspecies are not hereditary (and therefore, true geographical subspecies do not exist). In addition to the above subspecies, in North Africa in ancient times there were some subspecies that no longer exist today. Since some ancient Egyptian images show giraffes without spots, it has been suggested that the North African subspecies were uniformly colored and unpatterned. There are, however, also images of giraffes with spots that call such assumptions into question.

  Facts

  Many pictures amazed me. But what really shocked me wasn't the work of art, it was... the giraffe. I was shocked to the core when I learned that there was such a creature on our planet. It happened at the zoo. I was 3 or 4 years old. At first I saw an elephant, but it did not surprise me: I probably already knew something about it. My parents and I approached big tree. And suddenly a giraffe with a long, very long neck came out from behind him. At that moment I thought: “What is this anyway?” I had never heard of giraffes before and was stunned. Even now I think about how strange giraffes are, they still fascinate me. And the thought that I live in the same universe as the giraffe makes me happy.