I love animals - Information and questions from a video for small kids - Part 10 Giraffe

Look at that animal - such long legs and a long neck.  What is that?  

They are the tallest land animals and just their necks can reach a length of up to 2 m long.

Yes, you are right, it is a Giraffe.

They are not only tall, they are also heavy and a male giraffe can weigh as much as 1 400 kg (that is as much as your dad's pickup truck).

With such a long neck, one would think that it has a lot of vertebrae (bones in the neck) but it actually has not got more than a human, just much bigger.

Giraffes live in the grassland and open woodlands where they can find nice leaves on the trees.

They have light and dark spots on their bodies and this help with blending in with nature (camouflage).  If they stand in front of a tree, they will not be spotted easily because the dark spots will make them blend in with the tree and the lighter spots with the sunlight.  This help to protect them and hide from predators like lions who wants to catch the giraffe.

On the top of their head they have horns.  The female has two which are covered with hair at the top and the male can have three additional horns.

Giraffes are ruminants. This means that they have more than one stomach. In fact, giraffes have four stomachs, the extra stomachs assisting with digesting food.

If they want to drink water it is a whole process and it can also be dangerous for them.  They have to spread out their legs and then bend down their necks.  Now they cannot keep a good lookout for predators and they are easier to catch.

The males will fight over a female and they do this by swinging their necks and hitting the other giraffe with their head - they can hit the other giraffe so hard that it will fall to the ground.  This type of fighting is called 'necking'.

When the female has to give birth to a baby, she does it standing up.  The baby falls to the ground (about 6 feet) but is not hurt.

The giraffes love the leaves from the Acacia tree, but this tree has thorns.  Luckily their tongues are tough and covered with hair to help them with this and if they stick out their tongue you will see that it is purple...

• Have a look at the video and answer the questions.

1. Why do giraffes have a good view and can see well?
2. The spots help them to ____?
3. When are they vulnerable?
4. What food do they eat?
5. How do the males fight one another?
6. Where do giraffes live?
7. How old can giraffes become in the wild?  And in captivity?
8. How much does the male weigh?
9. What does the tongue look like and what can it do?
10. Are giraffes fast or slow?

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