We've gathered together some of the more surprising facts about giraffes you may not be so familiar with. From why they have long necks to how they communicate, discover more about one of the world's most fascinating animals.
15 fascinating giraffe facts
1. Giraffe are born with ‘ossicones’, which begin as skin-covered lumps of soft cartilage that lie flat on the head. As the giraffe grows older, they enlarge, ossify (become bone) and fuse with the skull.
2. A giraffe’s lungs can hold from 50 to 70 litres of air
3. Giraffes have seven neck vertebrae, just like humans. But these vertebrae are bound together with ball-and-socket joints, allowing a huge range of motion. In addition, the joint between a giraffe’s neck and its skull allows the animal to extend its head almost completely perpendicular to the ground.
4. A giraffe’s prehensile tongue can be up to 50cm long
5. Giraffes get water from leaves and plants, so they only need to drink a couple of times a week
6. Giraffes get by on only 30 minutes of sleep (or less) a day
7. Giraffes have a specialised cardiovascular system to fight gravity, keep blood moving around their tall bodies, and prevent them from blacking out when lowering their heads to drink water
8. To protect their young, female giraffes help each other out and form what are called nursery groups to take care of calves
9. Mature giraffe males leave the group they were born into and usually spend the rest of their lives alone, except when it is time to mate with a female
10. Giraffes communicate via a range of different noises, including snorts, sneezes, coughs, snores, hisses, bursts, moans, grunts, growls, and flute-like sounds.
11. Giraffes can get struck by lightning – although it's very rare.
12. A study from 2022 of the fossil remains of an early giraffe ancestor lends support to the intriguing idea that the extraordinarily long necks of modern giraffes evolved to aid fighting as well as feeding.
13. Giraffes have a top speed of 35 miles per hour over short distances, and can cruise for 10mph over longer distances
14. The giraffe is the tallest mammal in the world, standing at around 4-5m high, and the tallest giraffes ever recorded have been up to 5.9m. That’s over a meter higher than a double-decker bus
15. A giraffe heart can weigh approximately 11kg, making it the biggest of any land mammal. It can pump 60 litres of blood around its body every minute at a blood pressure twice that of an average human.