20 Giraffe Facts

Our homeschool mascot is the giraffe.

I'm looking up interesting facts with Lillian.
We're going to list our favorite facts.

1. They live up to 25 years in the wild.
2. Giraffes sleep less than two hours a day.
3. They carry a baby for 15 months.
4. Both sexes have skin-covered knobs, called ossicones, on the top of their heads.
5. Giraffes live mostly in savanna areas in the sub-Saharan region of Africa.
6. Their long tongues are helpful in helpful with pulling leaves from the trees.
7. People long ago thought, the giraffe was a cross between a leopard and a camel, which is reflected in its scientific name, Giraffa camelopardalis.
8. With an average height of around 17 feet, the giraffe is the tallest land animal in the world.
9. A giraffe's neck alone is 6 feet long and weighs about 600 lbs. The animal's legs are also 6 feet long.
10. Their tongues are about 21 inches long, and their feet are 12 inches across. 
11. Their lungs can hold 12 gallons of air, while human lungs hold 1.5 gallon.
12.  A group of giraffes is called a tower.
13. Giraffes are herbivores, which means they eat only plants.
14. Giraffes can go without drinking for weeks at a time, staying hydrated through the vegetation it consumes.
15. Female giraffes are called cows, while the males are called bulls, just like cattle.
16. At 3 to 6 years old, calves are fully mature. 
17. According to the Giraffe Conservation Foundation (GCF), it is generally accepted that there is one species of giraffe, which has nine subspecies. a) Giraffa camelopardalis camelopardalis (Nubian giraffe) b) Giraffa camelopardalis giraffa (South African giraffe or cape giraffe) c) Giraffa camelopardalis reticulata (reticulated giraffe) d) Giraffa camelopardalis rothschildi (Ugandan giraffe or Rothschild's giraffe) e) Giraffa camelopardalis thornicrofti (Thornicroft's giraffe) f) Giraffa camelopardalis tippelskirchi (Masai giraffe) g) Giraffa camelopardalis angolensis (Angolan giraffe or smokey giraffe) h) Giraffa camelopardalis  antiquorum (Kordofan giraffe) i) Giraffa camelopardalis peralta (Niger giraffe, Nigerian giraffe or West African giraffe).
18. Giraffes as a whole are not on any endangered list.
19. Poaching is a problen, the animals' tails are made into good-luck bracelets.
20. Just like human fingerprints and zebra stripes, the pattern of a giraffe's coat is unique to that animal.