The Giraffes

Giraffes are truly giant animals. They amaze me. I like giraffes
because their long neck. They can grow up to 17 feet tall and weigh
as much as 3,000 pounds. The male giraffes, called bulls, are typically
larger than the females, called cows. The babies aren’t exactly small
either. A baby giraffe, called a calf, is 6 feet tall at birth! Giraffes also
have large hearts. Their hearts can be up to 2 feet long and weigh
over 20 pounds. They need these large hearts to pump blood all the
way up their long necks.

It is always fun to watch giraffes eat from the tree. Their favorite
types of leaves are from the acacia tree. Giraffes are herbivores,
meaning they eat plants rather than meat. They use their long necks
and tongues (which they can stick out up to a foot and a half!) to get
to leaves on trees. A typical full-grown adult giraffe will eat over 70
pounds of leaves, twigs, and fruit each day. Giraffes don’t need to
drink water very often because there is so much water in the leaves
they eat. However, when they do drink water, they can drink several
gallons at a time. I think this is not good because a giraffe has to
bend down and get into a vulnerable position when drinking. Not a
good idea when there are lions sneaking around.