Well, if ever there is a doubt in your mind regarding this, a giraffe is indeed the tallest existing land animal.Every time you go to a zoo, you will be undoubtedly mesmerized by the eye-popping height of a giraffe, and the case is similar for jungle safaris as well. Giraffes are herbivores and are pretty calm and friendly by nature, there aren’t many incidents which concern a giraffe posing a threat to life.Unlike several other animal species, like monkeys or chimpanzees or baboons, it isn’t very difficult to distinguish a giraffe from other animals. Giraffes, Giraffa camelopardalis, are only one species but have multiple subspecies with small differences. Apart from at a zoo, you can get a glimpse of a giraffe, Giraffa camelopardalis, in Africa because this animal is native to Central, East and South Africa. You will have no trouble spotting this animal as giraffes are the tallest terrestrial animals living on earth. They roam around in herds and can be spotted in large open grasslands. You can even spot these creatures while they drink water, and you might be amazed by the amount of water they drink in a day. Giraffes drink around 10 gal (38 l) of water in one day.If you enjoyed this article, why not also read about How rare are 4 leaf clovers? Odds of finding four-leaf clover? and how tall is a grizzly bear here on Kidadl.How tall is a baby giraffe?A giraffe in the prime of its life has a height of around 18 ft (5.5 m). What might astonish you even more is that its long neck has a length of 6 ft (1.8 m). In order to complement their staggering body height, giraffes weigh around 3000 lb (1361 kg). Just like most of the other animal species existing in this world, there is a difference in body measurements between male and female giraffes. Female giraffes aren’t as tall or as heavy as male giraffes.Now in the case of baby giraffes, do not let the word ‘baby’ misguide you into thinking that a giraffe’s calves are born the size of human babies or are as small in size as other young animals. The calves of a giraffe are born at a height of around 6 ft (1.8 m), which is the size of a full-grown human being and weighs around 110-154 lb. (50-70 kg). What might surprise you, even more, is that female giraffes, who are also known as cows, give birth standing! Their calves fall onto the ground from a height of around 5 ft (1.5 m) but suffer no injury, and in fact, owing to their unparalleled agility, a calf can start walking just after an hour of being born. Once the calf is around four to five years old, it is believed to be mature enough to spend the rest of its life on its own.How tall is a full-grown giraffe?An average adult giraffe has a height of around 16-20 ft (5-6 m), it is considerably taller than the females. The majority height of a giraffe is constituted by a giraffe’s neck and its legs. Both the long necks and legs are around 6 ft tall (1.8 m), helping it to be the tallest living animal. These are the height and weight specifications of a regular giraffe that originally hails from Africa.Let us take a look into the records book and find out what was the tallest ever giraffe recorded. So the tallest giraffe ever recorded was a Masai bull African giraffe named George. It was 19 ft tall (5.8 m) at the age of nine and had its name etched in the ‘Guinness Book Of World Records’. Talking about facts, people often believe that giraffes are one of the only mammals to have not one, not two but three hearts! However, this is actually false as giraffes only have one heart. These tall animals with tails at the back and horns on their head amaze us with every other detail about them.How tall is a giraffe in feet?The height of a giraffe greatly varies depending upon its sex, as well as, the stage of its life it is in. For instance, male giraffes are relatively taller than female giraffes by a considerable amount. In the case of newborn giraffes, they are neither taller nor have greater weight than either a male or a female giraffe.In terms of feet, males can be as tall as 18 ft (5.5 m), whereas, females can have a height of up to 14 ft (4 m). Now a newborn giraffe has a height of around 6 ft (1.8 m). The adult, as well as, the baby giraffes who have recently been given birth by their mothers eat leaves and small branches off trees in the grasslands as their source of food, using their hard tongues. The tongue of a giraffe is really hard and rough to protect it from thorns present on some of the trees which they eat as their daily food. Their long necks play an important role in this process by helping them reach the higher branches. On average, the bottom half of a giraffe is as much as 6 ft (1.8 m) tall.How tall is a male giraffe?Male giraffes are taller than the other two kinds of giraffes, including female giraffes and young giraffes. Male giraffes have an average height of 18 ft (5.5 m) and are taller than their body is taller than the females by around 4 ft (1.2 m). A similar pattern of difference can be observed when you weigh both these kinds of giraffes. It is the long neck and legs of these animals which play a pivotal role in making a difference between a giraffe’s body from another giraffe’s.A human can easily spot a giraffe’s body from some distance owing to its long neck, legs, and the pattern you see on its body. A giraffe’s predators use this to their benefit but the thick skin of a giraffe often saves it from some such attacks from its predators and also protects its long legs from some obstacles like thorns which it might not be able to see. This easy spotting of giraffes has led to massive poaching and calls for immediate giraffe conservation. The population of these animals has shrunk massively over the past 30 years. A giraffe’s long neck and legs make it easier for poachers to spot them and hunt them down to use their tails for making bracelets or fancy threads for stringing beads. It is high time humans realize the need for giraffe conservation so that they can protect these animals from becoming further endangered.Here at Kidadl, we have carefully created lots of interesting family-friendly facts for everyone to enjoy! If you liked our suggestions for Do you know: How tall is a giraffe? Are giraffes the tallest? then why not take a look at How to clean a dog wound? Ways to heal your pet dog’s wounds, or Kordofan giraffe facts?
Well, if ever there is a doubt in your mind regarding this, a giraffe is indeed the tallest existing land animal.
