Giraffes are the skyscrapers of the animal kingdom
![[Giraffe Haven] A long tongue and mobile hairy lips grasp leaves](giraffe.jpg) Q: What animal holds the record for the tallest animal? How tall? -Walt B.
A: The giraffe holds the record. An old bull may be 18 feet (5.5 meters) to the top of his head and can
easily look into a 2-story window. The females can also. Even calves are born six feet tall and get taller
quickly-growing three feet in three months. Giraffe babies don't play as much as do most mammals.
They save their energies for growing tall, fast. Height protects giraffes.
Right: [Giraffe Haven] A long tongue and mobile hairy lips grasp leaves
The 6-foot long neck not only lets the giraffe browse from treetops, the eyes set on top of the high head
form a watch tower to spy lions, leopards, hyenas, or wild dogs sneaking through the savannah. The
large, sharp eyes can see for miles around-farther than any terrestrial creature.
The remarkable neck contains the same number of bones as ours does: seven. The bones, however, can
be up to a foot long. The giraffe expresses emotion with his neck. When angry, he lowers his neck until
it is almost horizontal. When submissive, he stretches his neck high and raises his nose in the air.
Adult giraffes apparently sleep little, perhaps an hour a day. When asleep, the giraffe rests his long neck over his back. Getting up and
down from the ground isn't easy. The animal shifts his neck forward and back as a counterbalance while unfolding his legs and rocking
his weight over first the front legs and then the back, repeating this until finally on his feet.
Drinking isn't done lightly either. They drink regularly when they have water but can go long periods without drinking. A giraffe
straddles his front legs widely to bring his head down to the water and is vulnerable. He can't see his enemies and is slow to start
running from this position. Once he gets going, though, a giraffe can run up to 30 miles per hour (48 kph) for short bursts.
When he lowers his head to drink, blood does not rush into his head. The blood vessels have valves, reservoirs of blood in the head, and
alternate routes for the blood. Thus, the blood pressure stays much the same no matter what the head level, no matter how quickly the
giraffe moves.
(Answered by April Holladay, science correspondent, December5, 2001)
Further Surfing:
Giraffe Haven: photos
Books:
If My Mom Were a Platypus: Animal babies and their mothers by Dia L. Michels, Platypus media LLC, 2001, p. 27 - 29.
The International Wildlife Encyclopedia: Giraffe, Volume 7, Marshall Cavendish Corporation, 1969, p.885 - 889
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