Giraffe Facts

Find out some interesting giraffe facts, and share them with your friends or school mates. Did you know that giraffes tongue is almost 2 feet long? Read on!

• Giraffes’ life span is 20-28 years.

• A giraffe’s tongue is black.

• The name Giraffe Camelopardalis means ‘one who walks quickly, a camel marked like a leopard’.
  

  Giraffes are nonterritorial and sociable. They live in loose, open herds.

• Male giraffes weigh 3,000-4,000 lbs. (1360 – 1814 kilograms) and can reach 20 feet (6 meter) height.

• Female giraffes weigh 1,500-2,500 lbs. (680 – 1133 kilograms) and are about 14 (4 meter) feet tall.

• An adult giraffe’s heart is 2 feet long and weighs about 20 pounds.

• The mighty giraffe can drink 12 gallons in one setting.

• Giraffes cannot cough.

• Giraffes spend most of their lives standing up; they even sleep and give birth standing up.

• Newborn giraffe calves begin their lives by falling 6 feet to the ground.

• Giraffes only spend between 10 minutes and two hours asleep per day.

• Males and females tend to eat from different parts of a tree to ensure that the sexes do not compete for food.

• Young giraffes hang out in nursery groups until they are around 5 months old.

• Male giraffes will often neck wrestle to establish dominance in their herds.

Check out some interesting facts about zebras!