Giraffe Fun Facts

Tikiri Animal Knowledge Series

Here at Tikiri we want our toys to not only be toys but also be educational for children (and adults!) too.

The reason we make the toys as animals is because they are such an important part of our world and we want children to grow up understanding this. By teaching children about animals and how different and special they all are will hopefully ensure they all grow up with a natural empathy and caring attitude. By learning to care for animals they learn skills they can easily transfer to human relationships too.

Over the coming months we will therefore be providing fun facts for each of our animals in our safari, ocean buddies and farm collections to help children learn whilst they play.

First on our list is the fabulous Giraffe with the oh so long neck! So, what can we tell you about Giraffes? 

Giraffe Fun Facts 

1. Giraffes are the worlds tallest living land animal and can grow to 5.5m tall – that is taller than 3 adult humans!

 Photo Credit: Scott Murdoch

2. A baby Giraffe is called a calf

3. Giraffes are vegans! Strictly speaking they are known as herbivores which means they only eat plants.

4. Acacia trees to Giraffes are like cake to humans! A Giraffe’s favourite food is Acacia trees which they are able to reach using their super long necks.

 Photo Credit: Mrinal Parashar

5. A Giraffe’s tongue can grow to a massive 53cm! That’s over half a meter long!

6. Giraffes only drink once every few days. This is because they get most of their water from leaves.

7. Giraffes are herd animals and a group of Giraffes is called a tower.

8. Once born, a baby Giraffe is usually up on its feet within 30 minutes and just a short time after are able to run with their mothers.

9. Although you think of a Giraffe’s neck being very long, it’s actually too short to reach the ground! To reach the ground to drink water they actually have to kneel or spread their front legs.

Photo Credit: Willem Span

10. Giraffe’s can run as fast as 35 miles per hour – that’s pretty quick and you would imagine they would use their speed to out run predators such as a lion….wrong! The Giraffe actually uses their strong kick to see off Lions and can shatter a Lions skull with one kick! Lesson to that story is….don’t stand behind a Giraffe!

 Photo Credit: nicholas souroujon

We hope you enjoyed our 10 fun Giraffe facts – keep an eye out for our next animal in the limelight in the next few weeks.

If your child would like their own miniature giraffe of their own you can buy our Giraffe bath toy here, our Giraffe teething ring here or our Giraffe Comforter here.