Presented By: Marley Kinsella June 2010

 Have you ever imagined being 6 feet tall at birth? Not me! Baby giraffes are 6 feet tall at birth. Close your eyes and imagine you were on a vacation in Africa and you saw these long legs. Then you looked up and saw a baby giraffe. Then your mom told you that it was a new born giraffe. Then she told you that it was 6 feet tall. That is really cool!!

 Giraffes live in Africa.  Their habitat is a wooded savanna.  It only rains two times a year in those grassy areas.

 Giraffes are herbivores. So they only eat plants. They also eat bark, twigs, leaves, and fruit.  Giraffes regurgitate their food. They bring food back from their stomach to their mouth.  Giraffes don’t chew their food well. So they get food back from their mouth and chew it for a minute. Then they swallow their food.  Giraffes drink from water holes.  Giraffes eat 140 pounds every day.

 Male giraffes are called bulls.  If a male giraffe is 10 years old it is fully grown.  Male giraffes fight other male giraffes to mate with females. They swing their heads into each other.  A fully grown male giraffe is 18 feet tall and it weighs 3,500 pounds.

 Female giraffes are called cows.  If a predator gets close to a baby giraffe the mother kicks it.  A mother giraffe takes turns looking after a group of baby giraffes.

What are female giraffes called? Where do giraffes live? How many pounds of food do giraffes eat every day? What are male giraffes called? What does herbivore mean? What is a giraffe’s habitat?