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giraffe
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reticulated giraffe Giraffe drinking water A giraffe in the Somali savanna stretches its neck to eat leaves from an acacia tree, surrounded by dry grassland. Masai giraffe Masai giraffe standing protectively beside her newborn calf in Nairobi National Park, with the distant skyline of Nairobi on the horizon, her long arched neck framing the baby. Close-up of an adult giraffe nuzzling the face of a baby giraffe, both with patterned necks and small ossicones, against a blue sky. Four Rothschild giraffes (Giraffa camelopardalis rothschildi) stand together in tall grass in Murchison Falls National Park, Uganda, with savanna and trees in the background. Map of Africa showing the geographic ranges of all four giraffe species, each marked with distinct colors. The northern giraffe occupies scattered areas in West and Central Africa, the southern giraffe ranges across parts of southern Africa, the reticulated giraffe is found in northeastern Kenya and southern Somalia, and the Masai giraffe inhabits central and southern Kenya and Tanzania. Giraffe feeding at a zoo giraffe
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Masai giraffe
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reticulated giraffe
reticulated giraffe Reticulated giraffe (Giraffa reticulata), Kenya.

giraffe

mammal
Also known as: Giraffa
Written by
Lory Herbison and George W. Frame
Wildlife biologists. Authors of Swift and Enduring: Cheetahs and Wild Dogs of the Serengeti.
Lory Herbison and George W. Frame
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Britannica Editors
Encyclopaedia Britannica's editors oversee subject areas in which they have extensive knowledge, whether from years of experience gained by working on that content or via study for an advanced degree....
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•History

giraffe, (genus Giraffa), any of four species in the genus Giraffa of long-necked cud-chewing hoofed mammals of Africa, with long legs and a coat pattern of irregular brown patches on a light background. Giraffes are the tallest of all land animals; males (bulls) may exceed 5.5 meters (18 feet) in height, and the tallest females (cows) are about 4.5 meters (about 14.8 feet). Using prehensile tongues almost half a meter (1.6 feet) long, they are...

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