giraffe: Quick Facts

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Facts

Also Known As	Giraffa

Photos and Videos

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 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

Observe a tower of giraffes feeding on acacia leaves and oxpeckers combing giraffes' coats for parasites

Witness the birth and first steps of a newborn giraffe at Greenville Zoo, South Carolina

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northern giraffe Masai giraffe reticulated giraffe southern giraffe What do giraffes eat?Why do giraffes have long necks?How tall are giraffes?necking charismatic megafauna Today in History—August 12: Zheng He’s Treasure Fleet Returns

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