An animal adoption makes a unique and alternative gift.
Head up the hill from the cheetahs and you'll find our giraffe house. Don't miss the walkway behind the house to get eye to eye!
Status Near Threatened
Size Males: 5 to 6 m; Females: 4.5 to 5 m
Weight Males: 1500 kg. Females: 1100 kg
Gestation 15 months
Young Usually 1 but twins occur on rare occasions
Life span Up to 40 years
Giraffe are browsers, eating mainly leaves. They feed from up to 93 different plant species, but often prefer to forage (look for food) in acacia trees. Giraffe do not need to drink water every day. They can survive for a long time without drinking because they get their water from their food and dew on plants.
Giraffe are found in many countries in southern and eastern Africa, and in smaller populations in west and central Africa. The Rothschild's subspecies are found in south Sudan, north Uganda and west Kenya. They live mainly in savannah and woodland habitats.
Giraffe are able to breed from about 4 years old. Their pregnancies last for 15 months. Newborn giraffes weigh about 100 kg, are about 180 cm tall and nearly double in height in their first year! Giraffe calves are ready to stand and suckle within an hour of being born. They are usually weaned by 12 months old, but can start eating solid food from a few weeks of age. Females with calves may get together and form a nursery. This means the mothers can take turns to feed while the calves play together.
Young giraffe are known to be hunted by lions, hyenas, leopards and wild dogs. Adult giraffe, with their strong legs and hooves, are capable of killing predators such as lions.
Giraffe can spot predators from up to a kilometre away, thanks to their long necks and excellent eyesight. Giraffe are often seen with other savannah species such as zebra and wildebeest, which may use them as an early warning system to detect danger.
Giraffe face a number of threats in the wild. These include habitat loss; civil unrest (such as ethnic violence and armed conflict) and illegal hunting for their meat and hide.
Efforts to conserve these giraffe include long term studies of their numbers, distribution and ecology, as well as moving giraffe to new areas to increase their range.
The way male giraffes fight is called ‘necking’. They swing their necks around to hit each other using their head and ossicones (horn like structures on their head).
The coat pattern of giraffe can vary between different subspecies, and each giraffe has a unique pattern, just like human fingerprints.
Giraffe can jump fences of 1.5 m in height!
Giraffe tongues can be up to 45 cm long!
A giraffe’s neck is made up of 7 bones (vertebrae), the same number as most mammals including humans!
We are facing our toughest challenge to date and our road to recovery will be long.
You can help us through these difficult times...
Birthday Trip
Never fails always a fantastic day, even better with new panda enclosure and of course the BRICKOSAURS! were awesome!shirley, 7th April 2019