Giraffe pics

Giraffes are one of the world's tallest mammals. They live in the savannas of Africa and are most densely populated in Kenya, Namibia, South Africa, and Tanzania. They are well known for their long necks, long legs, and spotted patterns. Giraffes have small "horns" or knobs on top of their heads that are used to protect the head in fights.

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Giraffes spend most of their day eating, needing up to 34 kilograms of food per day to fuel their massive size. They eat the leaves of a variety of deciduous and evergreen trees and shrubs. Acacia species are among their favorites. Thanks in part to moisture-rich foods such as acacia leaves, giraffes can go weeks without drinking. An interesting fact about them is that they have one of the shortest sleep requirements of any mammal, which is between ten minutes and two hours in a 24-hour period, averaging 1.9 hours per day. Nights are mostly spent lying down ruminating, especially hours after dark and before dawn. Source

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The giraffe is nonterritorial and sociable, living in loose, open herds. At a given moment a giraffe may be in a herd composed of all males, all females, females and young, or of both sexes and all ages or all alone if it is a mature bull or a cow guarding a new calf. There are no leaders and minimum coordination of herd movements. Source

The evolution of the long necks of giraffes has been the subject of much debate. The standard story is that they were evolved to allow the giraffes to browse vegetation that was out of the reach of other herbivores in the vicinity, giving them a competitive advantage. There is also an alternative theory which proposes that the long necks evolved as a secondary sexual characteristic, giving males an advantage in "necking" contests to establish dominance and obtain access to sexually receptive females. Source

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