Published July 13, 2018 | Animal Knowledge, Animals

Who doesn’t love the tallest mammal in the world, the Giraffe ? Here are some fun facts about giraffe your favorite leggy animal:

interesting facts about giraffe

  • How tall is the giraffe? The adult one can grow up to 19 feet. The male giraffe is always slightly taller than the female, this is how you can tell them apart.
  • Giraffes are fast – they can run at speeds of up to 35 miles per hour!
  • Giraffes are plant-eaters, which makes them herbivores. They get most of their water from the plants they eat, so they only need to drink water once every couple of days.
  • Here’s another great surprise about the giraffe – its tongue can grow up to 20 inches long and, to protect it from the sun, it is almost completely black!
  • When the female giraffe gives birth, her calf falls almost five feet to the ground as he/she enters the world. Here’s a cool fun fact: every female giraffe returns to where she was born to give birth to her own calf.

giraffe facts

  • A baby giraffe doesn’t need months or years to start walking – most of them can stand and start running within hours of being born.
  • Giraffes sleep while standing. Lying down puts them in a very vulnerable position and the longest they’ll ever lie down is 6 minutes at a time.
  • If you look closely at them, you’ll see they have horns that are covered in hair. These are called Ossicones and are largely unused, except by male giraffes when fighting, which is also called “necking”. This usually only happens when two male giraffes want to assert their dominance.
  • An adult giraffe spends his or her days eating – this is because they require over 75 pounds of food a day. That is a lot of food for such a lean animal!
  • Their heart is 2 feet long and weighs 25 pounds.
  • You might think they are completely defenseless. However, this is not entirely true – one strong kick can seriously injure or even kill a lion and other predators.

Those are interesting facts about giraffe. Want to see a giraffe up close and personal in its natural habitat? Be sure to visit these gentle herbivores, and other wild animals in their natural habitats, at the award-winning Bali Safari Park, here in Bali.