All about the giraffe: amazing facts. Giraffe brief information
The message about the giraffe for children can be used in preparation for the lesson. A report on a giraffe for children can be supplemented with interesting facts.
A story about a giraffe for children
The giraffe is the tallest animal in the world. The growth of a giraffe can reach 6 meters.
The neck of a giraffe is as much as 1.5 meters! Like other mammals, she has 7 vertebrae, only they are very elongated.
Giraffe long legs, narrow chest, long neck and small head with horns. The long neck allows him to feast on tender leaves from trees. And long front legs make it possible to run very fast, even faster than a lion, the only predator that can attack a giraffe. The giraffe has very sharp hooves, with their help it defends itself from enemies.
Giraffes have adapted to life in the hottest and most arid steppes. Central Africa. You will not soon find a sip of water there, and the grasses dry and burn out in the sun. To drink water, the giraffe has to spread its front legs wide. A giraffe can survive without water even longer than a camel. But at one time he drinks 40 liters.
Tall and graceful giraffes have sensitive hearing, sharp eyesight, and in running they are not inferior to swift-footed gazelles.
It takes the tallest mammal on Earth 20 hours a day to eat! On the day he eats 30-40 kg of greens. Sleeps only 1-2 hours lying on the ground .. For a very long time, people thought that these animals were dumb. But recently, people have discovered that giraffes can bleat and grunt.
giraffe enemies
Giraffe Enemies - it is a man and hungry lions. They have no other enemies. Defending themselves, giraffes beat lions with the hooves of their hind legs. The blow is very strong, because. giraffe weighs 1000 kilograms. The color of the giraffe allows you to hide, hide from enemies.
Majestic, amazing, tall and unusual animals - giraffes. They got their name from the Arabic - "assembly". So in Africa, where giraffes live, people named them for their appearance, which combines similarities with several other animals. The neck and head are camel's, the skin is tiger, like a gazelle's - horns, teeth - like a cow's. The Arabic name refers to where giraffes live. They can be safely included in the list of surviving symbols of the "Black Continent". Africa is the only continent where the giraffe lives, unlike the elephants.
Basic information about animals
Giraffes in their way of life do not live in herds. In this they differ significantly from representatives of other ungulates. Occasionally they form groups (mostly females), but do not become strongly attached to each other. They are completely herbivores, and it depended on where giraffes lived before the development of human civilization. In ancient times they more inhabited northern Africa. Even in times ancient egypt their number, according to archaeological finds, was quite high. But even during the existence of this ancient state his subjects literally eradicated giraffes.
Today, the tallest animals live in the arid regions of Africa. Since they are great admirers of acacia leaves, they settle where these trees grow in significant numbers. They prefer to stay on the plains of the savannas, where there is always enough acacia.
The type of giraffes and the pattern of spots depend on the territory of residence. In the 20th century, their range decreased significantly. Now these majestic ungulates are forced to settle in the reserves and national parks of African countries.
Ugandan
Most Ugandan giraffes are concentrated in Murchison Park, as the name of the animal already implies, in Uganda. The males of these individuals reach 5.5 meters in height, and weigh a ton or more. They are also called the Rothschild giraffe. The Ugandan ungulate has large brown spots of various sizes, different in shape from other species. It is found not only in Uganda, but also partially in Kenya, along with other types of giraffes.
Nubian
This species of giraffe lives in eastern Sudan and western Ethiopia. More specifically, in national park Eastern Sudan (on the border with Ethiopia) Dinder. Its area is 16 acres. Tourists are advised to visit the park on their SUVs from January to April, when the weather is most comfortable here.
West African
The only country where this species of giraffe lives is Chad. True, due to the fact that individuals are sometimes found on the border with Niger, many sources attribute the habitat of West African giraffes to this state. Now they are on the verge of extinction. As, in fact, the Angolan subspecies.
Masai
As the name implies, it is distributed in the territories inhabited by the Maasai tribe - in Kenya and Tanzania. The governments of these African states protect giraffes, like other wild animals, by allocating them protected areas - the Masai Mara and Serengeti reserves. By the way, local tribes help the government of Kenya to observe some animals from the Masai Mara. They keep a close watch to ensure that poachers do not exterminate the remaining individuals. Also in Kenya, there is a reticulated giraffe, so named because of the color, which is distinguished by thin light stripes that create the appearance of a grid on the animal's body.
South African
This subspecies of giraffes has chosen a territory for living in South Africa, Zimbabwe, Mozambique, Botswana and Namibia. Distinctive feature- rounded spots on a reddish background. It's good to know that they are not yet considered an endangered species. Population growth is observed periodically.
In South Africa, the giraffe population is maintained in in large numbers in the oldest national park of the Kruger. It is part of the Biosphere Reserve of the UNESCO International Biological Program. It is named after President Paul Krueger, on whose initiative the conservation area was created. Between the Sabi and Crocodile rivers, they founded the Sabi Reserve, where hunting was limited, including for giraffes. On the basis of this place, the Kruger zone was created, which later became the first national park of the Republic of South Africa.
Zimbabwe can be proud of the Hwange National Park. This is the place where the giraffes of a poor country live in an amount of about 3 thousand individuals. In other protected areas of Zimbabwe, giraffes are not numerous. They can boast of the most famous national park Namibia - Etosha. No wonder, because it consists entirely of savannahs, which is a natural habitat for the tallest animals and lovers of eating acacias. In Mozambique, giraffes inhabit the Limpopo National Park, bordering the Kruger Conservation Area.
Kutse Reserve is located 210 kilometers from the capital of Botswana. In addition to the abundance of various predatory and ungulate animals, Kutse is almost the only place in Botswana where giraffes live.
Interesting facts about long-necked animals
Although the babies of acacia lovers are born without horns, the places of their future location are marked with tufts of black wool. Cartilage is hidden under the skin. Gradually, they will ossify and turn into small horns that will grow over time. Bunches of dark wool remain for several more years, then they are erased and disappear without a trace. Thanks to this feature, it is possible to approximately determine the age of an individual from a distance.
An employee of one of the protected areas would describe a case during which a lion jumped on a giraffe, but missed. The predator was met with hooves. The lion never got up because hit in the chest. The crippled beast had to be shot. His rib cage turned out to be depressed, and almost all the ribs were broken. More Giraffe Facts:
- A giraffe has the same number of cervical vertebrae as a human - 7 pieces.
- Like fingerprints, the color of each individual is unique.
- The animal can reach speeds up to 60 km/h. If necessary, it is able to jump over a barrier of 185 centimeters. And this is the height of a tall man.
- The only relative of the acacia lover is the okapi.
It does not matter where the giraffe lives, in which country - all its species are interbreeding, their signs are not hereditary. Although at the beginning of the study of these animals it was believed that all subspecies are independent.
It is important, since we all understand that the structure of the body depends on the conditions in which it was formed. Scientists have found that giraffes appeared in the world more than twenty-five million years ago. Their remains are found almost throughout Eurasia and Africa. But living giraffes in nature can be seen far from everywhere where they grazed at the dawn of history.
Distribution area
Today giraffes live in Africa. Populations in its eastern part are more numerous. In the southwestern regions, the animal is mostly exterminated, although a few groups are still found in the steppes. The all-out hunting that giraffes were subjected to led to the fact that they can be seen where they had not previously grazed. So, some sources claim that they can be found to the west. This is not a very common place for them. In addition, giraffes travel to Chad, Sudan or Zambia. It is no longer possible to meet them in other territories. Thus, it turns out that under natural conditions, giraffes live only in Africa.
giraffe habitat
There are several subspecies of this animal. This division is related to where giraffes live. So, it is very different from the steppe. And those that grazed in the mountains adapted to the terrain in their own way. The fact is that the structure of the body of this miracle of nature allows him to get food from high altitude. Some individuals can reach six meters in height. Since the animal eats only fresh shoots and leaves, it is precisely where such vegetation exists that it lives. The giraffe grabs part of the plant with its tongue and pinches off. This organ is highly developed and comparable in functionality to an elephant's trunk. Studying where giraffes live, scientists were surprised to find that they do not shy away from the steppe area.
Structural features
Their neck is known to be long. Judging by its appearance, one could assume that its structure is different from other mammals. Only it's not. The giraffe has seven vertebrae, like everyone else. Therefore, it seems impossible for these animals to eat the grass that grows under their hooves. However, at a time when there is no fresh growth left on the trees, the giraffe in the savannah enjoys fresh grass perfectly. To drink or collect food from the ground, animals have a hard time. They bend their front legs and practically fit on the ground. So you can pinch the herbs and drink some water.
How often do these animals drink?
Do you study where giraffes live? The question of the need for moisture for the correct implementation of all processes in their organisms is quite natural. It is clear that in Africa most regions are exceptionally arid. Giraffes feel great there. Most they meet their water needs at the expense of the moisture that is in food (up to 74%). Therefore, they are often found in dry areas. Animals may well go without a watering hole for up to several days. They roam the area in small groups (of five or six individuals) in search of pastures. I must say that giraffes are not at all defenseless, as one might think.
Sense organs in times of danger
Giraffes have very good eyesight, and the neck helps to increase the view of the territory. The animal notices the hunter at a distance of at least two kilometers. If danger approaches, then the animals gather in big herd. Males, whose weight is significant, perfectly use their hooves in order to drive away predators. From their blow, even a lion can be left not only without dinner, but also without life.
Giraffes also have sensitive hearing. If any sound seems dangerous, they may take flight. With seeming clumsiness, animals can develop good speed. They run in big leaps (up to five meters). Interestingly, shorter animals (zebras, okapis) adapted to use long-necked animals as guards. Due to growth, the giraffe sees the danger faster than all. Where this animal lives, protection from predators is provided. If there is a “toothy death” nearby, then they all run away together.
How to get used to the heat?
Everyone adapts to life in one way or another. high temperature air. Giraffes have their own traditions in this regard. They graze at dawn and early in the morning. When does it start heatwave, resting in the shade, chewing gum. The skin of light sand color allows not to overheat under the action of sunlight.
Animals do not suffer from heat. In addition, they are considered very hardy. Nineteenth-century hunters believed (rightly) that the horse was the first to get tired during a long chase. And the giraffes continue their graceful run. By the way, all their movements look like in slow motion. All giraffes are long. He carefully coordinates their movements. Therefore, the step turns out to be somehow cosmic: long and multidimensional. When running, a giraffe helps itself by moving its neck.
How giraffes sleep
It would seem that it is not so easy for an animal with the same neck to adapt to rest. But it's not. At night, giraffes lie on their belly. They bend their limbs under themselves, they try to keep their heads high. But during sleep, the neck can bend, then the back of the head rests against the back of the animal. Often giraffes jump to their feet to check the “safety level”. This is quite reasonable, since predators hunt at night. Often the victims are babies. The older generation protects them in the first year of life. Interestingly, giraffes can gather young from different families into groups, forming a kind of nursery.
This makes them easier to look after.
Can it live in captivity
The first giraffes appeared in Europe over three hundred years ago. But for a long time they could not exist in captivity. They developed a bone problem called giraffe disease. Most likely, animals need constant movement. In its absence, the skeletal system suffers. When people learned how to properly care for these amazing animals, they got the opportunity to study the features of their reproduction. So, it turned out that the fetus develops in forty-three days. The birth was the most amazing. The cub, being born, falls almost from a height of two meters. At the same time, its mass can reach sixty kilograms. The baby does not suffer from such extreme. After about half an hour, he is already up. Then he goes to his mother to feast on milk. He can eat adult food in three weeks.
Giraffe
Giraffe is an African animal. They live in open steppes - savannahs with sparsely located trees and shrubs. They live in small herds of 12-15 individuals. They feed mainly on leaves and branches of various acacias.
Giraffes are very peaceful creatures. They join in small herds. Each member of this herd is very respectful of the rest, respects and loves his leader. There is almost no fight. If it is necessary to find out who to lead in the herd, bloodless duels are arranged. Applicants converge closely and begin to hit each other's necks.
The duel between males does not last long, no more than a quarter of an hour. The defeated retreats, but he is not expelled from the herd, as is the case with many animals, but remains in it as an ordinary member.
The birth of a giraffe is a joyful event for the whole herd. The giraffe born into the world, each adult gently greets with a touch of the nose.
Giraffes courageously protect babies, no matter whose they are. The parent is especially protective of her offspring. She, without hesitation, rushes towards a flock of hyenas, does not retreat in front of lions, even if there are several of them.
After ten days, small horns appear in the giraffe (before that, the horns were, as it were, pressed in). He is already quite firmly on his feet. The mother looks for other nearby females with the same babies, and they arrange for their offspring " Kindergarten". This is where the danger lies in wait for the kids: each parent begins to rely on the others and her vigilance is dulled. The giraffe runs away from supervision and easily becomes the prey of predators. Only 25-30% of them live up to a year.
EThe giraffe was first called "camelopardalis" ("camel" - camel, "pardis" - leopard) by Europeans, because it resembles a camel (in its manner of movement) and a leopard (due to its spotted color).
The first giraffe was brought to Europe by Gaius Julius Caesar in 46 BC. e .. In modern times, the first giraffe brought was an animal that was brought by the Arabs in 1827. The name of the animal was Zarafa, which in Arabic means "smart". So Zharafa (pronounced in a European manner) gave the species its name. Therefore, today the word "giraffe" in most languages is pronounced almost in Russian.
The giraffe is the tallest animal on earth, with an average height of five meters. The length of one step of a giraffe is 6-8 m.
Giraffes have the most a big heart and the highest blood pressure of any land animal. After all, the giraffe's heart pumps blood about 3 meters up the neck to reach the brain! The heart of a giraffe is really huge: it weighs 11 kilograms, has a length of 60 centimeters and a wall 6 centimeters thick.
The giraffe also has the longest tongue of all mammals (50 cm). The tongue of a giraffe is black. A giraffe can clean its ears with its tongue.
The vision of the giraffe is sharper than that of any other African mammal, with the exception of the cheetah. In addition huge growth allows you to notice objects at a very long distance.
The giraffe's neck has only seven vertebrae, the same number as the human neck. Although the neck of a giraffe exceeds 1.5 m in length, there are only seven cervical vertebrae, like most other mammals, including humans. It's just that each cervical vertebra is greatly elongated.
Although giraffes sometimes sleep lying down, most of the time they are upright and sleep standing up, sometimes placing their head between two branches to keep from falling.
INTERESTING FACTS about giraffes.
The color of each giraffe is unique.
Scientists say that it is impossible to find two identically colored giraffes. The drawings of each animal are strictly individual, unique, characteristic only for him (as well as the drawing on the fingers of a person).
Giraffes are pacers.
Maybe because the front legs of a giraffe are longer than the back ones,the giraffe moves with an amble - that is, alternately brings forward both right legs, then both left ones. Therefore, the running of a giraffe looks like very clumsily: the hind and front legs are crossed, but the speed reaches 50 km / h! During the gallop, the neck and head of the giraffe sway strongly, writing out, as it were, a figure eight, and the tail either dangles from side to side, or is lifted high and twisted over the back.
There are five-horned giraffes.
Males and females have a pair of short, blunt horns covered with skin on top of their heads. In males, they are more massive and longer - up to 23 cm. Sometimes there is also a third horn, on the forehead, approximately between the eyes; in males it is more common and more developed. Two bone outgrowths in the upper part of the occiput, to which the cervical muscles and ligaments are attached, can also grow strongly, resembling horns in shape, which are called posterior, or occipital. It turns out that in some individuals both three true horns and two rear horns are well developed - that's why they are called "five-horned" giraffes. Many old males generally have the whole head in the "bumps".
A giraffe can go without water longer than a camel.
Giraffes ruminate like cows. They have a four-chambered stomach, and their jaws are constantly chewing cud—partially chewed food that is regurgitated from the first chamber of the stomach for secondary chewing. Giraffes prefer thorny acacias so the giraffe's mouth is surrounded by a horny layer of skin that protects it from the sharp thorns and its saliva, which is very thick, envelops the thorns, which facilitates the act of swallowing.
Often they also feed on other shrubs and grass. Since the food of giraffes is very juicy, they are able to go without water for many weeks, possibly months.
Giraffes silently "talk".
The fact that many animals are able to communicate with the help of sounds not perceived by the human ear has long been known. Dolphins, for example, use ultrasound for this. Giraffes are like elephants blue whales and alligators prefer to "chat" in the infrasonic range.
In zoos, scientists have recorded many hours of "talk" of giraffes on film. All sounds made by these tall animals have a frequency below 20 hertz and are not audible to humans. That's why giraffes have enjoyed the reputation of being "dumb" for so long.
The results of studies indicate that in 24 hours giraffes emit several hundred sounds that differ in duration, frequency and amplitude in the infrasonic range. All these differences allow us to talk about the communication of giraffes, and not just consider the sounds they make as noise.
By the way, the opinion that giraffes do not make any audible sounds at all is erroneous. They may roar or bellow loudly in dangerous situations.
Enemies.
Adult giraffes have only two serious enemies - a lion and a man.
Most often, the lion attacks when the giraffe is lying or standing, clumsily bent over - drinking water or nibbling grass. Young giraffes are also preyed upon by other predators, such as leopards and hyenas. If the giraffe fails to escape, it fights back with its feet. A kick with a sharp hoof is so strong that it can decapitate a lion.
Human long time killed giraffes for meat, tendons (for making bowstrings, ropes and strings musical instruments), brushes from the tail (for bracelets, fly swatters and threads) and skins (shields, drums, whips, sandals, etc. were made from it). Uncontrolled hunting has become one of the main reasons for the decline in both the number and distribution of these animals.
Perhaps, no animals cause such delight in children as giraffes. This is understandable: special grace, kindness appearance, interesting coloring and a long neck have made these animals interesting for many peoples and generations since ancient times. Today the giraffe is an emblematic animal. You can meet him in almost every zoo in the world.
Giraffes: what are these animals and where do giraffes live
Features of giraffes
The giraffe is a very unusual animal. And this is connected, most of all with its unusual proportions. In height, the animal reaches up to 6 meters, and can weigh as much as one ton. Therefore, at first glance, a rather fragile and graceful animal, in fact, is a huge colossus. The neck of giraffes is unusually long, compared to the general proportions of the whole body. But it has only 6 cervical vertebrae and a lot of muscles. It is they who allow him to maneuver his neck so easily and freely, stretching it even into the most inaccessible corners of a tree or shrub.
The heart of a giraffe is very large and strong for processing large flows of blood. This is due to the fact that in order to supply the brain of a giraffe with blood, the heart must pump this blood to the head, passing through all the vessels. long neck giraffe.
Giraffes, despite their moderate and languid lifestyle, are quite frisky and quick-responding animals. In running, for example, they can reach speeds of up to 60 km. per hour, which is typical for horses. But usually, they are in no hurry anywhere and use their gallop only in cases of danger, because there are a lot of predators where giraffes live. The only natural danger for giraffes is the swampy lowlands, which they cannot overcome. Accordingly, they avoid them.
Where do giraffes live on planet Earth?
- IN natural environment habitat, giraffes live only in Africa, being endemic to this region. Habitat - savannas, and below the Sahara desert, in the south and east of the African continent, ibid. Such habitation of these animals is due to the fact that it is on this continent that the climate and natural conditions, as well as vegetation and solitude, allow them to live and develop normally. You can find out where the bugs live from.
- There are references to the fact that earlier giraffes also lived in other regions of Africa, for example, in the Nile Delta, on the territory of modern Egypt. But later, they were all exterminated by the ancient Egyptians.
- And even now, in captivity, namely in the savannas in a completely wild environment, the population of giraffes is not very large. Therefore, the authorities of African countries and international environmental organizations create special reserves where giraffes live in order to maintain the life of the giraffe population so that they can start new life(cm. ). In these reserves are created special conditions life of giraffes close to their natural habitat. In fact, this is the habitat itself, it's just that the animals there are protected from poaching and other animal species that can harm the giraffe population.
- There are special nature reserves, such as Kruger Park, in the south African continent where animals live almost in natural conditions. Tourists are allowed to enter there, but in a separate area from giraffes and other species of African animals.
Now you will not surprise people with a giraffe, because, the second largest population, after natural conditions, is located in various zoos and safari parks around the world, in contrast to. Even in the most northern countries giraffe is easy to see in the zoo. Giraffes live in such conditions quite well and even breed. There are generations of giraffes that have been captive bred and have never seen Africa, not even their ancestors.
Thus, we can conclude that giraffes live almost everywhere in zoos, and in natural environment- only in Africa.
Giraffe lifestyle
- Giraffes are herd animals. They never live alone. They live in small groups, where they produce their offspring every few years. Each born giraffe lives with his mother for the first two years of his life, being completely on her provision and protection.
- Giraffes are completely herbivores. They do not accept other food than the leaves of trees or shrubs. Moreover, giraffes can be without water enough long time. This, again, has to do with what and how they eat. The fact is that the leaves that giraffes feed on have a sufficient supply of moisture. Therefore, even in the driest times, giraffes always have the opportunity to satisfy themselves in the required rate of water.
- Giraffes eat a lot. They have to eat up to 30 kilograms of foliage every day in order not to lose weight (see?). To eat such a quantity of leaves, it is necessary to spend at least seventeen hours for the process of obtaining food. There is another feature by which you can easily determine who is male and who is female. Males, as a rule, in order to please females and show all the beauty and length of their necks, try to eat foliage from the upper branches of trees, and females prefer to eat from the lower branches.