Giraffes!

This week, my blog is going to be about giraffes.
Giraffes are the world’s biggest mammals. Their legs alone are taller than humans. These legs allow giraffes to run as fast as 35 miles an hour over short distances and sprint comfortably at 10 miles an hour over longer distances. Males sometimes fight one another by slamming their long necks and heads together. These “contests” aren't usually dangerous and end when one animal gives in and walks away.
Giraffes mainly eat acacia leaves. They eat up to 47 pounds of food a day. The giraffes tongue is 18 inches long and they have a four chambered stomach so they can regurgitate their food for more chewing – kind of like a cow. The giraffe is the tallest animal in the world, males stand between 16-18 feet, and females stand between 14-16 feet.

A giraffe's heart has the task of pumping blood at high enough pressure so that it can flow up the giraffe's neck to the brain. To accomplish this task, a giraffe's heart is specially adapted. It can weigh up to 22 pounds and generates twice the blood pressure of other large mammals. Having enough blood pressure to pump blood to the brain when the giraffe's neck is formed upward is one challenge, but when the animal lowers its head it risks injury due to excessive blood pressure. "The total number of giraffes in Africa was estimated by IUCN in 1999 to exceed 140,000." To learn more about this, click on the sentance and it will take you to the website.