facts about african giraffe

Giraffe

Family : Giraffidae

Class     : Mammalia

Order   : Artio dacttyla

Phylum : Chordata

Kingdom : Animalia

Types of  giraffes  

• Northern giraffe
• West African giraffe
• Reticulated giraffe
• Masai giraffe
• Rothschild's giraffe
• Kordofan giraffe

Giraffes are the tallest land animals in the world. Everybody loves giraffes I mean symbol  for so many things around the world. The massive bumps on giraffes head aren't horns or antlers they're different and they called ossicones. They actually have like cartilage like in your ear when they're born they flap become bone and fused to the skull. The male's ossicones are much larger and grow increasingly massive over their lives. There vertebrae than thick neck just like all humans and all other mammals. Giraffes lower leg bone they kick out at lions and other predators. One of  nine different subspecies of  giraffe spread across Africa. The secrets of  their survival that they get enough water just from browsing. The tress to defend themselves and have developed giant spikes, poisonous leaves and have recruited ants to fight the giraffe off. In response the giraffe's skin has become tough. They also have black sun-proof  tongue and can sniff  out poisonous leaves and pluck the moister ones. Most importantly, giraffes are vital  pollinators and seed spreaders. Without the giraffe's landscape gardening, Africa would change for the worst. Giraffes are active at night. In just 20 years the numbers of all giraffe across Africa have dropped by almost 40%. To put this into perspective it's well known that African elephants are in trouble. Their number are falling rapidly and their half  and million left but no one realised is that there are far fewer than giraffes. There are just 90,000. Giraffe have already become extinct in at least seven countries.

Photo by Hu Chen on Unsplash

  Habitat 

• Grassland 
•  Savanna 
• Central Kovango woodland

  Lifespan

     28 years

  Height

    4.6 to 6.1 m

  Weight

     800 kilograms

  Speed / hour

       55 km per hour

  Diet and Water

       Leaves and shrubs from acacia trees. 

      They can drink 38 liters of  water per day ( if  water is available near)

 Gestation period and breeding

        481 days - 15 months ( 1 year and 25 days)

        A single calf ( baby giraffe) born throughout the year

 Main threats

     Humans , lion, hyena, leopards, African wild dogs, crocodile