12 Fun Facts About Giraffes

April 15, 2025News & Tips

12 Fun Facts About Giraffes

Here are 12 Fun Facts About Giraffes. On the savannas of Africa, you can often see giraffes, which are the world’s tallest animals.

With the giraffe as its state animal, Tanzania treats it with respect and safety.  The animal stands for the ability to see into the future and into the present.  In this way, the giraffe reminds people in Tanzania to look at life from all sides.

These are 12 fun things about giraffes.

1. Not just one species, but four

Researchers used to think that giraffes were one species with several subspecies, but new data showed that different giraffe populations had big genetic differences. The discovery caused the scientists to change their minds about how to classify them.  Nine types and four species of giraffes are known.

a. The Masai giraffe (Giraffa tippelskirchi) lives in southern Kenya and Tanzania. It is known for having spots with sharp edges.

b. There are two types of the southern giraffe, which is Giraffa giraffa. These are the Angolan giraffe and the South African giraffe.  Southern Africa is home to this plant, which has star-shaped spots on a lighter background.

c. Giraffa camelopardalis, the Northern Giraffe, is a species that has three subspecies: the Nubian giraffe, the Kordofan giraffe, and the West African giraffe.  In East and West Africa, they live in different areas.

d. Reticulated Giraffe (Giraffa reticulata): This species is easy to spot because it has a pattern of small, reticulated lines. Its natural habitat is mostly in northeastern Kenya, southern Ethiopia, and Somalia.

2. The spots on them look like fingerprints

Like people, each giraffe has a unique pattern of spots on its skin.  These spots not only give them a unique look, but they also help keep their bodies at the right temperature.  There is a network of blood vessels around the big, bumpy spots on their skin that helps get rid of extra body heat.

3. Giraffes are huge, silent animals

Giraffes can talk, despite what most people think.  They make noises like grunts, moans, snores, and hisses, especially when they are talking to each other.  On the other hand, they are usually hushed animals that talk mostly with their bodies.

4. They are taller than us.

Giraffes are very tall animals. Adults can be 14 to 19 feet tall, and their necks are about 6 feet long.  They can reach leaves and buds high in trees that other animals can’t.  They can’t drink water, though, because their heads are too short to reach the ground.  To take a sip, they have to spread their front legs apart.

5. Giraffes’ hearts are strong.

So that blood can get to their brains all the way up their necks, giraffes have very specific heart and blood vessel systems.  Their hearts are powerful and big—about 2 feet long and 25 pounds—so they can pump blood very well to very high places.

6. They walk funny

Giraffes move both legs to one side, then the other, when pacing.  People think that their long necks and legs help them stay stable and balanced as they walk in this special way.

7. The tongues of giraffes are specialized

The leaves, fruits, and flowers of woody plants are what giraffes eat most of the time. Acacia species are their best.  It can take their tongues up to 18 inches to get to their food. The tongues help them get around thorns and rough bark.

8. Giraffes sleep with their legs up.

Giraffes sleep standing up most of the time. This positioning lets them get away from danger fast if they need to.  They only lie down for short periods of time most of the time.  They only need a few minutes of sleep at a time, which adds up to about 30 minutes to two hours of sleep every 24 hours. This is one of the shortest sleep needs of any animal.

9. A group of them comes together in towers

Giraffes like to be with other giraffes, and they often hang out in groups called “towers.”  People in these groups usually hang out for fun, and they can join or leave at any time.  When they have babies, female giraffes often stick together in groups that are more stable.

10. Giraffes Leave Their Young Behind

The pregnancy of a giraffe lasts for about 15 months.  The female giraffe stays standing while giving birth, so the baby’s first experience outside the womb is a 6-foot fall.  This fall helps to cut the umbilical cord and break the amniotic sac. It also encourages the baby to take its first breaths.

11. Their kicks are very strong

Giraffes use their strong legs as their main defense when they feel threatened.  They have the ability to kick with enough force to scare off most attackers, and their kicks could even kill them.  Giraffes’ main enemies are lions, so these kicks can be extremely fast and accurate.

12. Giraffes fight by “necking” each other.

Ossicones is the name for a giraffe’s horns.  Males use their ossicones to fight, a behavior known as “necking,” to show who is in charge or to compete for females.  When they fight, giraffes swing their long necks back and forth, using the weight and speed of their bodies to hit with their heads.  The blow may be severe enough to throw an opponent off balance or even hurt them.

Giraffe Quick Facts

• Giraffa is its scientific name.
• Giraffe is its common name.
• They can stand up to 19 feet tall and weigh between 1,800 and 2,800 pounds.
• In the wild, they live 20 to 25 years and eat plants.
• It lives in the African Savannahs.
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