Excerpt from A Year on the Savannah
1 Giraffes are the tallest land animals and grow to almost their full height by the time they are four years old. When grown, they can be 17–18 feet tall. They have long necks and long legs. If you look closely, you can see a short black mane and a black tuft on the tail.
2 Giraffes are so tall that they can reach branches and leaves six feet off the ground. They eat leaves and shoots of acacia trees in the grasslands and open woodlands of East Africa.
3 Some giraffes consume 140 pounds of food a day! They browse for as many as 20 hours a day. Most of their water comes from their food. In the dry season, they will drink water, but it’s not easy because they are so tall. They spread their front legs apart to reach the ground.
4 The size of a giraffe’s home range varies. It is small in a wet area but large in a dry one. Giraffes are not territorial, and they move from one herd to another. Herds are not organized, and they don’t have leaders.
5 Giraffes have one calf at a time, and mothers are very protective of their calves. A calf can stand for five minutes after being born, but its legs are wobbly.
6 Giraffes do lie down to sleep, but the sleeping periods are just minutes long. Zookeepers and veterinarians say that they bleat like sheep and grunt if threatened.
