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Newsela | Giraffe populations dwindling, considered for "endangered" status

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Giraffe populations are declining and may join the "endangered" species list.

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Giraffe: Learn all about the tallest animal on earth.

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Giraffes are the world's tallest animals. Learn about this protected species found in Africa.

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This page contains giraffe facts for kids (and adults). With their distinctive long necks and legs, giraffes are the tallest land animals in the world. They grace the African savannah with their unique beauty and peaceful, social demeanor. Let us explore the height, appetite, and life of this gentle giant. Read on for more interesting facts about giraffes...

Facts About Giraffes

Where Do Giraffes Live?

Giraffes are native to Africa, and are found between Chad and South Africa. They live wherever acacia trees are in abundance, and spend much of their time feasting on the leaves of this tree. Giraffes eat about 100 lbs of greens every day.

Giraffes use their 21-inch long tongues to wrap around the leaves, pulling them from the tree. Because the leaves contain so much water, giraffes only need to drink water from the watering hole once every several days. This is a good thing, because when the giraffe stoops to drink water, they put themselves in a compromising position with their spread-out legs, making them a target for predators such as the crocodile.

How Tall Are Giraffes?

Giraffes range in size from 16-18 feet tall. They weigh between 1,600lbs and 3,000lbs, with the males weighing almost 1,000lbs more than the females. Their necks and legs are both around six feet long, the height of a tall man. With their long legs, they are able to run up to 35 miles per hour. In fact, the name giraffe means "fast walker."

Ossicones: Giraffe Horns

On top of their heads are two horns, called ossicones, which are made of cartilage. One way you can tell the difference between a female and male giraffe (besides their size) is that the female's ossicones will be covered with hair, while the male's ossicones are bare. The males use their ossicones to spar with one another; they also fight with each other by "necking" when they swing their heads at each other and tangle their necks together.

Giraffe Markings

No two giraffes have the same markings, although those found in the same region will have a similar appearance. With their leopard-like markings and the small hump on their backs, giraffes used to be called camel-leopards, which is why they are of the species Camelopardalis. Their coloring varies from tan to yellow to white, with reddish to chestnut-brown spots.

Family Life

Giraffes are not territorial, although they live in groups (called a "tower") of 12-15 giraffes, with an older male (bull) leading them. The females (cows) carry one baby at a time for 15 months before giving birth. When the calf is born to the standing mother, it falls nearly five feet to the ground- ouch! Recovering quickly, they are up and walking within the first hour, running after ten hours. These "babies" are nearly six feet tall at birth, weighing 100-150lbs.

Those first weeks are a dangerous time for the new calf and its mother. She keeps her baby away from the tower in a nursery group with other calves, shielding him from predators. Only about half of newborn giraffes survive, though. At three to six years, they reach maturity, and they can live as long as 25 years.

Giraffe Adaptations

Giraffes have several adaptations, here are five of the most interesting:

1. The giraffe has special valves to protect its brain and keep it from blacking out when it lowers its head to drink; they both constrict and release blood flow.

2. Their height and excellent vision enable them to communicate with each other over long distances and to anticipate predators.

3. Their strong legs are a great defense against their primary predator, the lion. They have been known to shatter the skull of a lion with just one kick!

4. The giraffe has thick, sticky saliva that protects it from the thorny branches of the acacia tree.

5. The giraffe's uniquely patterned spots provide a camouflage in the grassland environment.

The Rothschild Giraffe

One of the tallest subspecies of giraffes, the Rothschild Giraffe (named after Lord Walter Rothschild), stands nearly 20 feet tall and weighs up to 2500 pounds. Rothschild Giraffes are primarily found in one of two wildlife refuges in the Lake Baringo region of Kenya, which is why they are referred to as the Baringo Giraffe. However, they are also seen in the eastern part of Uganda.

Rothschild giraffes live in a variety of habitats, including wooded areas and along the Sahara Desert.

Unfortunately, they are in danger of extinction. Due to the extreme poaching habits of hunters in Kenya, there are only 670 left in the wild today.

The Rothschild giraffe has several distinctive features that separate it from the other species. To begin, they can have up to five horns, instead of the customary two. An additional horn can be found in the center of their head with two more behind it. Also, their markings are different from other subspecies of giraffes; they are similar to that of a leopard, in beautiful orange and brown markings. They have dark patches on a white background. These markings stop at the top of their legs, turning into increasingly spread out speckles that end in pure white at the knee or below. Finally, the males and females live separately unless they are mating.

Giraffe Facts For Kids

1. There are nine subspecies of giraffes.

2. The giraffe and okapi are the only two members of the Giraffidae family.

3. The giraffe is a ruminant animal. This means they regurgitate their food, chewing it over and over again, like a cow. They also have four chambers in their stomach, like the cow.

4. Giraffes can drink 10 gallons of water at a time.

5. In order to pump blood through their long, large bodies, giraffes have an equally large heart. It weighs 22-24lbs and beats 170 times per minute.

6. The giraffe moves at two rates: an amble (about 10 mph) and the gallop (up to 35mph). Their front and back legs on one side move together, followed by the front and back legs on the other side. When they gallop, their back legs will pass in front of the front legs.

7. The giraffe's tongue is a blue-black color.

8. A giraffe's lungs can hold 12 gallons of air.

9. Giraffes only sleep for 20 minutes to 2 hours every day.

10. Giraffes can't swim.

Discover More with Active Wild

We hope that you have enjoyed these giraffe facts for kids. You can discover more amazing African animals on this page: African Animals List with Pictures and Facts

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Giraffe Facts For Kids: Information & Pictures from Active Wild

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Giraffe information & facts for kids. Learn about this graceful African animal. Where do giraffes live? How tall are they? The Rothschild giraffe & more.

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Nubian giraffe (G. c. camelopardalis)

The Nubian giraffe is the nominate subspecies, which means that because it was the first specimen recorded, its Latin sub-specific name is the same as the original species described. The estimated number of Nubian giraffe is approximately 3,000 individuals, which includes the genetically identical formerly recognised Rothschild's giraffe. At present, fewer than 200 occur in western Ethiopia, 450 in eastern South Sudan, 800 in Kenya, and more than 1,550 in Uganda.

Interestingly, the majority of Nubian giraffe in Kenya live extralimitally (outside their natural range), which is the result of an effort to establish viable populations for conservation.

Exact information about the precariously small and fragmented populations in Ethiopia and South Sudan is extremely difficult to ascertain, and their numbers are most likely lower due to increased poaching in the region. Based on the rate of decline, estimated at 95% in the last three decades, Nubian giraffe were, for the first time, added to the IUCN Red List and listed as Critically Endangered. In 2010, the formerly known Rothschild's subspecies was classified as Endangered and of High Conservation Importance on the IUCN Red List, but based on good conservation efforts of governments and partners, including GCF, the Rothschild's giraffe was downlisted to Near Threatened as populations and numbers have increased. Once the IUCN recognises the two subspecies as one, the conservation status on the IUCN Red List for Nubian giraffe as a whole will most likely remain Critically Endangered, indicating an urgent need for immediate conservation measures.

The Nubian giraffe's patches are large, rectangular and chestnut-brown. The patches are surrounded by an off-white, creamy colour. There are no markings on their lower legs.

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Northern giraffe: Giraffa camelopardalis - Giraffe Conservation Foundation

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The Nubian giraffe is the nominate subspecies, which means that because it was the first specimen recorded, its Latin sub-specific name is the same as the original species described. The estimated number of Nubian giraffe is approximately 3,000 individuals, which includes the genetically identical formerly recognised Rothschild's giraffe.

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Scientific Name:

Giraffa camelopardalis

Average Life Span In The Wild:

25 years

Weight:

1,750 to 2,800 pounds

Size relative to a 6-ft man:

Giraffes are the world's tallest mammals, thanks to their towering legs and long necks. A giraffe's legs alone are taller than many humans-about 6 feet . These long legs allow giraffes to run as fast as 35 miles an hour over short distances and cruise comfortably at 10 miles an hour over longer distances.

Behavior

Typically, these fascinating animals roam the open grasslands in small groups of about half a dozen.

Bulls sometimes battle one another by butting their long necks and heads. Such contests aren't usually dangerous and end when one animal submits and walks away.

Height and Size

Giraffes use their height to good advantage and browse on leaves and buds in treetops that few other animals can reach (acacias are a favorite). Even the giraffe's tongue is long! The 21-inch tongue helps them pluck tasty morsels from branches. Giraffes eat most of the time and, like cows, regurgitate food and chew it as cud. A giraffe eats hundreds of pounds of leaves each week and must travel miles to find enough food.

The giraffe's height also helps it to keep a sharp lookout for predators across the wide expanse of the African savanna.

The giraffe's stature can be a disadvantage as well-it is difficult and dangerous for a giraffe to drink at a water hole. To do so they must spread their legs and bend down in an awkward position that makes them vulnerable to predators like Africa's big cats. Giraffes only need to drink once every several days; they get most of their water from the luscious plants they eat.

Female giraffes give birth standing up. Their young endure a rather rude welcome into the world by falling more than 5 feet to the ground at birth. These infants can stand in half an hour and run with their mothers an incredible ten hours after birth.

Population

Giraffes have beautiful spotted coats. While no two individuals have exactly the same pattern, giraffes from the same area appear similar.

Up until recently, the consensus has been there is only one species of giraffe with multiple subspecies. In 2016, some scientists released a study that claims genetic differences among giraffe populations indicate the existence of four distinct giraffe species.

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Discover why giraffes are much more than the world's tallest mammals. Learn how their young are welcomed, rather rudely, into the world.

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Two white giraffes were spotted on a reserve in Kenya. The giraffes have leucism, or partial pigment loss, and have recently gained popularity online.