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George the Giraffe (22/26)


This is also part of this series: All About Animals (26)

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Subjects: Animal Behaviour, Animals, Evolution, Geography, Natural History, Nature

Grade Level: K-Gr3
Producer: BBC
Closed Captioned: No		 Running Time: 25 mins
Country of Origin: Great Britain
Study Guide: No
Copyright Date: 2004
Available in French: No

Giraffes live on the wide open grassland of East African Savannah. George is one of a herd of Masai giraffes in Kenya. He is four weeks old, still a baby, but already two metres tall. He started life with a 2m drop, straight down. Within 15 minutes he was up on his feet. Giraffe herds are fairly loose affairs, but they do help out when it comes to childcare. Giraffes are the tallest animal in the world. Males grow up to 5m tall. Like all mammals they've still only got 7 neck bones, they are just much longer. Their lofty position, coupled with very good eyesight, means that Giraffes can literally see for miles. They tend to move about quite slowly, taking life pretty easy but believe it or not, if they need to they can pull a burst of speed up to 55kmph. In the open, Giraffes stick out like a sore thumb. Amongst trees, they are well camouflaged. Whatever the type, all giraffes love eating leaves. One can eat 34 kg of leaves a day. That highly flexible tongue is as long as a man's forearm and well suited to the job. There's a strict male hierarchy among giraffes, and George's dad is at the very top. But he had to fight to get there. Being at the top gives him access to the females, but he won't hang around for the birth. Having a long neck's not always easy though. George has problems learning to drink. There's a bit of a design flaw – a giraffe's neck doesn't quite reach the ground! They have to bend their legs too, a rather awkward position to keep up.

Links: http://http://www.bbc.co.uk/nature/animals/

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