Giant Giraffes

Giraffes are the tallest land animal living today. A full grown male giraffe can measure up to 19 feet tall. If you’ve ever looked up at one, you’ve probably stared at its long neck and wondered how many bones it takes to make a neck that long. But the truth is that giraffes have the same number of bones in their necks as we do!

Most mammals, including humans and giraffes, have seven bones in their necks. The big difference is the size of those bones. The bones in a giraffe’s neck are up to 10 cm long. Giraffes also have a huge heart, up to 2 feet long and weighing 25 pounds, in order to pump blood all the way up to their heads!

Why is a giraffe’s neck so long? So that it can reach the tops of trees! Giraffes can eat leaves that no other plant-eaters can reach. Their favourite food is leaves from the acacia tree. Acacias have long sharp thorns, but those thorns are no problem for a giraffe. They just use their 50 cm long tongues to reach around them! A giraffe’s tongue is dark bluish-black (which some scientists think stops them from getting sunburned), and covered with sticky saliva that helps them gather leaves. The saliva also coats any sharp thorns that get into the giraffe’s mouth and stop it from getting hurt if the thorns are swallowed.

Giraffes also have a bumpy start to life. When a baby giraffe is born, it drops 6 feet and lands on its head! This doesn’t hurt the baby, but it does make the baby take a big breath. After an hour, the baby is strong enough to walk!