If you’re a giraffe, you might want to live in a place that is blanketed with trees. Giraffes are herbivores, and their favorite food is the acacia tree. High protein, water, and calcium content (Rubanza et al. A giraffe’s tongue can reach up to 50 cm in length, allowing it to reach the juiciest leaves and twigs.

Have high calcium requirements due to large, fast-growing skeleton. This animal also has stripes on its legs, though it is the only other living member to belong to the family Giraffidae. The proportion of grass in their diet is very low. Drought and intense browsing by many giraffe may limit the re-growth ability of acacia. Being herbivores, the giraffe browses among mostly trees and shrubs to eat a variety of leaves, fruits, flowers, shoots, bark, and sometimes even grass. Until then, the mother will pull foliage down for the infant. While their long necks limit them in many ways, their length also provides easy access to a variety of treetop nutrition. The savanna is known for being arid. It’s interesting to note that although giraffes can eat grass, they typically avoid doing so. Reasons for the Giraffe Diet. The water requirements of a giraffe, which are extremely sparing, are similar to those of a camel. As you can imagine, this makes the daily habit of eating rather tricky.

However, their eating habits are not as clear cut. Masai giraffes feed 16 – 20 hours each day. This website works best with modern browsers such as the latest versions of Chrome, Firefox, Safari, and Edge. When dry seasons hit, giraffes will migrate large distances in search for food. Moreover, giraffes are especially vulnerable to lion predation when their heads are down while ground-feeding or drinking. Giraffes are more than able to consume a number of plants that have thorns, but what about cacti? “Well as giraffes say, you don’t get no leaves unless you stick your neck out.” – Sid Waddell. The tall trees that fill the bellies of giraffes have deep roots and hydrate the animals while they munch. 2012 Table S1). These animals are recognized for their lengthy necks, two horn-like structures on the top of their heads called ossicones, and a speckling of uniquely patterned spots over the majority of their bodies. This species takes refuge near Kenya and Tanzania. As the name suggests, it is overrun with grasses while savannas contain more shrubs. As the tallest animals in the world, they reach an impressive height of six meters. There are an estimated 100,000 giraffes found in the world.

They may look similar at first, but each pattern is unique. Measuring around 4 to 6 meters, giraffes are able to reach their favorite meals. Black or purple in colour, the giraffe’s tongue is also high in melanin. Their amazing height and manner of eating make giraffes an important part of the circle of life by serving as pollinators for various plants. Here are some fascinating facts about giraffe eating habits. Instead, they use their bottom teeth to comb the leaves off of trees. Airborne release of tannins; giraffes may move upwind. Nowak (1999, vol. In zoos, giraffes are fed mostly on herbivore pellets, which provide them with a well balanced diet. © 2020 Africa Freak | All Rights Reserved, Safest countries in Africa for an epic adventure, Kruger National Park: the complete safari guide. Even more impressive, these tongues are rough in texture. Eating plants will temporarily replenish a giraffe so that it doesn’t have to take as many risks. Even Africa has wet seasons, allowing for plant restoration. This is to mimic the tall trees found in the wild. Another species of giraffe, the Masai giraffe (Giraffa camelopardalis tippelskirchi), is a bit different from the Reticulated giraffe in relation to their pattern. This can alter their diet or foraging ranges. Giraffes eat most of the time and, like cows, regurgitate food and chew it as cud. These animals are browsers, which means they eat the leaves of bushes and, especially, trees. Image credit: © Patricia van Casteren, patries71 at Flickr.

So how does a giraffe forage through this prickly plant?

They are most commonly recognized for their reticulated or divided, spots that take on a darker red hue. Diet.

As giraffes are limited in food choices, their body has had to adapt in various ways. The tall animals eat these plants as they are easy to reach.

Enter your email for your weekly dose of ‘wild Africa’ directly to your inbox. Your email address will not be published. Diet includes more than 100 plants (Bercovich and Berry 2014), but bulk of diet usually made up of only a few species of trees and woody bushes (Parker and Bernard 2005). Fact sheet index, San Diego Zoo Global Library, Email the librarians at library@sandiegozoo.org, https://ielc.libguides.com/sdzg/factsheets/giraffes, International Environment Library Consortium. During the dry season, giraffes eat evergreen leaves, however, once the rainy season begins, they switch to new leaves and stems that sprout on deciduous trees. Evergreen trees tend to also be a favorite meal during this season to avoid fatigue as they contain more nutrients. On average, a single giraffe will eat about 35 kilograms of plant material in a day.

They use their long necks to reach the branches and shoots of the trees. African explorers have also documented these animals eating fruit on occasion. Reticulated Giraffe The Reticulated giraffe (Giraffa camelopardalis reticulata) is one of the better-known species of giraffe.They are most commonly recognized for their reticulated or divided, spots that take on a darker red hue. SDZG Library Mission: to provide outstanding information resources and services to advance knowledge in animal and plant care and conservation, inspire passion for nature, ignite personal responsibility, and strengthen our organization’s capacity to save species worldwide. Giraffes are browsers and herbivores. With such a large body mass, it is no wonder that these animals have to constantly eat. Reticulated Giraffe The savanna can be described as an area with grassy plains and a few scattered trees. There are four giraffe species currently known, each of which inhabits a different geographic region. Just as anywhere else, there are a variety of habitats, each of which the giraffe must find enough food to survive. The giraffe is a herbivore, meaning that it only feeds on different types of plants. Because males are so much taller than females, they browse in a higher region of a tree, potentially reducing competition for food (O'Connor et al. These herbivores are found throughout Africa where food is not always available. 2015); also see Mramba et al. Giraffes are fascinating creatures. They have beautifully adapted to eat and drink in ways that work with their bodies, and watching them eat is quite majestic. With the challenges of varying seasons and predation, wild giraffes tend to survive a total of 20 to 25 years.

Still, their diet does extend well beyond the more commonly eaten plants just mentioned. Instead of having a pattern that is more rounded, the spot edges are more jagged or ripped. These animals can be found near the Horn of Africa.

In the wild, giraffes primarily eat the leaves and twigs of acacia, mimosa, and wild apricot trees (also various trees and shrubs in the genera Commiphora and Terminalia). More commonly observed in captive than free-ranging individuals. Giraffe fight over electrified fence in Kruger Park | Unusual African animal fights.

The fruits, twigs, and leaves of deciduous plants meet this requirement. Dry Season Rather than bending their necks to the watering hole, giraffes splay their legs and bend their knees to reach the water. Considering that their snack of choice is the thorny acacia tree, it’s no wonder that giraffes choose to take their time chewing. The impervious lips and tongue rip the leaves away. predominant in their diet; also, Terminalia and Ziziphus spp. It turns out the Prickly pear is a member of the cactus family, Cactaceae. The giraffe uses a variety of tricks to get past them. This means that they eat vegetation off of the ground, and follow a strictly plant-based diet.

Being such a large animal can put you at a disadvantage, especially when on the African continent where predators rule the plains. Because of this, they are known to eat an expansive collection of plants, over 100 in fact. Once a baby giraffe is born, it relies upon the milk of its mother to become strong. Some think that it is to help them blend in amongst the trees and shrubbery. This is French, the author behind the animal article you have just stumbled upon. Quickly swallowed, partially digested, and later regurgitated. Individuals found among the tropical savannas of Africa will roam until they find Baobab, Candelabra, and Whistling thorn trees. Other predators include hyenas and leopards. A fun tongue fact is that these animals use the color of their tongue to protect themselves from sunburns as they use this body part to forage throughout the day. They usually feed on the acacia leaves. Able to feed at heights unreachable by all other browsers, except for the elephant (Wilson and Mittermeier 2011; Dagg 2014). If you’re looking for a few quick answers about a giraffe’s diet, these frequently asked questions will help. Not everyone is able to travel to Africa to see these amazing giants.

There are about 8,500 wild existing individuals. There are four giraffe species currently known, each of which inhabits a different geographic region.This can alter their diet or foraging ranges.

You may picture Africa as being a desolate savanna with hardly any trees, but that is not always the case. Before diving into what a giraffe eats, it’s helpful to understand its biological structure.



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