Did you know that the giraffe is the highest animal on earth? Its identity card is the spots of the dress. Today, this species is endangered because of humanity and its civilization. It is not even present anymore in the Saharan region. In the meantime, choose the giraffe plush to invite him at home. Thus, your baby of love will make you live magnificent stories in the savanna and the jungle. They will allow him to stimulate his imagination. Zoom in on the details!
Some things to know about the giraffe
The giraffe is the royal and iconic animal of the African savannah. It can be found from Chad to South Africa. But giraffe herds are mostly found in Niger, Botswana, Tanzania and Kenya. To this day, the giraffe is the tallest mammal on this planet. It is an ultra charismatic animal thanks to its spotted coat, long neck and long legs. The International Union for Conservation of Nature or IUCN considers it "vulnerable". Indeed, 40% of its population has completely disappeared between 1985 and 2015.
The particularities of the giraffe
Before you buy a giant giraffe plush, here's everything you need to know about the animal: the giraffe is an ungulate mammal that has heels on its feet. Its average weight is one ton for a male and 600 kg for a female. And it can reach up to 5.80 meters in height. Females are generally 1 meter shorter than males. The giraffe is particularly recognizable thanks to its red spotted coat on a white background. These spots are used to hide. It has been given the Latin name of "camelopardalis", which means camel-leopard. The giraffe also has a light tail that measures 70 to 100 cm.
It is the only animal that is born with two small horns covered with skin. These are more compact and more developed in the male. On the whole, they are parallel or with a small angle towards the outside. They ossify with age and become associated with the skull at about 7 years in females and 4 years in males. The horns begin to straighten only a few days after birth.
The giraffe does not trot, it walks at amble and gallop. That is, it moves both its front and back legs to the same side. On average, it runs at a speed of 15 km/h, with peaks of up to 55 km/h. Its long neck serves as a counterweight to balance the body during movement, but not only! It is also especially useful to catch the leaves of the trees she feeds on. However, it is too short to allow this long animal to drink water. She has to bend or spread her legs to touch the ground with her snout. Luckily, the giraffe does not need to drink on a daily basis, as it quenches its thirst with the plants it swallows. The neck is also used for a very instituted rite. Indeed, the giraffes oscillate their neck to measure themselves and to raise their hold. With this information, you will know how to explain to your child why his big giraffe plush has a long neck.
Its organism and its food
This animal is a herbivorous ruminant. It feeds mainly on tree leaves, especially acacia, combretum and commiphora. Often, the giraffe consumes flowers, pods or fruits. It tends to regurgitate its food in order to chew it a second time. Often, the giraffe suckles and chews bones for a phosphorus and calcium supplement (especially in dry periods). It also absorbs minerals from the ground. The giraffe has a stomach with 4 compartments. One third of its time is essentially spent ruminating. The first 3 and the last 3 hours of the day are mainly devoted to feeding. The warm hours and the night are used to rest and ruminate. You should know that the male spends about 43% of the day foraging, while the female spends about 72%.
The heart of the giraffe is exceptionally larger than in other animals. It weighs almost 14 kg, which is almost 2% of the giraffe's weight. In humans and other mammals, the heart is only 0.5% of the weight. The giraffe is so large that its circulatory system is equipped with several "accessories" to control blood flow and pressure. This prevents damage to the body, especially the brain. These "accessories" include a brain-based device and 2 sets of "valves" (1 set on the carotid artery to the brain and 1 set on the artery between the brain and the heart). The giraffe has a respiratory rate 1.5 times faster than humans. Its trachea is 2 meters longer, with a diameter of approximately 5cm. In addition, the skin and muscles of the legs act as support stockings.
Its reproduction and its baby
The giraffe is mature around the age of 3 to 4 years for the female and 4 to 5 years for the male. She is fertile until almost 20 years old and receptive every 15 days at that time. As for the males, they analyze the urine of the females to find out about their sexual receptivity. Only the dominant male having succeeded in eliminating the others manages to fertilize the female with brilliance. There is an interval of about 20 to 30 months between births. During its lifetime, a giraffe can give birth to about ten giraffes.
After 15 months of gestation, the giraffe or giraffeau, falls 2.5 meters from the belly of its mother who gives birth standing up. It is born with a weight between 40 and 80 kg and a height of 1m70 at least. The little one has only one hour to begin to suckle its mom otherwise it is abandoned. He will live with his mother for approximately 2 years. It grows of about 3 cm per day. He is weaned at about 12 to 14 months old. The giraffe has 4 inguinal teats.
It is important to note that the life expectancy of the giraffe is over 36 years in captivity. It can live up to 25 years in the wild. Many people think that the giraffe is dumb. This is very wrong! The giraffe produces grunts that are imperceptible to humans, but can be heard from a great distance by other giraffes. The giraffe is also the only mammal on earth that cannot yawn. Also, it sleeps only 2 hours a day at most. Its front legs are longer than its back legs.
