Fun facts about Giraffes

               Fun facts about Giraffes

                                                 
    Did you know that giraffes can run 35 miles per hour over a short distance, they are the tallest mammals on earth, their legs alone are longer than any humans, also their long necks are too short to reach the ground. As a result, it has to awkwardly spread its front legs or kneel to reach the ground for a drink of water. Giraffes only stand up mostly, they sleep and give birth standing up. The giraffe calf can stand up and walk after about an hour and within a week, it starts to sample vegetation. Despite the females’ attempts to stand over their calves during attacks by lions, spotted hyenas, leopards and African wild dogs, many calves are killed in their first few months. A giraffe’s spots are much like human fingerprints. No two individual giraffes have exactly the same pattern. Both male and female giraffes have two distinct, hair-covered horns called ossicones. Male giraffes use their horns to sometimes fight with other males. Giraffes only need 5 to 30 minutes of sleep in a 24-hour period! They often achieve that in quick naps that may last only a minute or two at a time. Whilst it was thought that giraffes did not make any sounds, this is now known to be untrue, as giraffes bellow, snort, hiss and make flute-like sounds, as well as low pitch noises beyond the range of human hearing. These are really cool facts to learn about Giraffes! Maybe Giraffes could be your favourite animal sometime in the future. Always love the tallest mammal in the world!