Giraffe
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The giraffe is the tallest animal on Earth. It is a mammal that lives in the grasslands and open woodlands of Africa. An adult male giraffe stands 16 to 18 feet tall, about as tall as a two-story house. Females are a little shorter. A newborn giraffe is already six feet tall at birth. It drops that far to the ground when it is born, because its mother gives birth standing up.
Most of a giraffe's height comes from its legs and neck. A giraffe's neck alone can be six feet long. But here is a surprise: a giraffe has only seven bones in its neck. That is the exact same number a human has. The bones are just much, much bigger.
Giraffes eat leaves, twigs, and fruit from trees. Their favorite food is the acacia tree, which has long, sharp thorns. A giraffe's tongue is about 18 inches long and tough enough to wrap around the thorns without getting hurt. Its lips are leathery for the same reason. A giraffe spends up to 16 hours a day eating and can put away 75 pounds of leaves in that time.
Pumping blood all the way up that long neck takes a powerful heart. A giraffe's heart weighs about 25 pounds, more than any other land animal's. Special valves in the neck keep blood from rushing to the brain when the giraffe bends down to drink. Without those valves, the giraffe would faint every time it lowered its head.
Giraffes live in loose groups called towers. They do not have a strict pack leader like wolves do. Males fight each other by swinging their long necks and banging their heads together. This is called necking. The winner gets to mate with nearby females.
Every giraffe has a pattern of spots, and no two giraffes have the same pattern. The spots work as camouflage among the shadows of tall trees. Lions are the main predator of giraffes, but a full-grown giraffe can kick hard enough to kill a lion.
For a long time, scientists thought all giraffes belonged to one species. In 2016, new genetic research suggested there are actually four separate species. Not every scientist agrees yet, and the debate is still going on.
Giraffes are in trouble. Their numbers have dropped by about 30 percent over the last 30 years, mostly because people have cleared the land where they live. Some giraffe populations are now listed as endangered. Conservation groups across Africa are working to protect the habitats where the world's tallest animal still walks.
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Last updated 2026-04-22