Giraffe Scientific name: Giraffa camelopardalis

Giraffe
Scientific name: Giraffa camelopardalis
 
Range and habitat
Giraffes are found throughout the central and South African savannah (African plains), from south of the Sahara desert to as far south as South Africa. giraffe is the most readily recognized giraffe sub-species. It is found mainly in southern Ethopia and northern Kenya.

Physical characteristics
The giraffe is Africa's tallest mammal, reaching full heights of more than 5m. The attractive marking is made up of irregular patches, in varying shades of brown, on a cream or buff background.It has a very long neck and a small head with three horns.
Males are known to grow up to 11 ft, 6 inches (3.5m) at shoulder-height and 18 ft (5.5m) tall to the top of it's head. They can also weigh as much as 1,365 kg.
Males are larger and darker than females, have thicker horns and have a lump on the forehead. The horn tips are bald in males and old females while hairy in younger females.The giraffe's tongue is blue-black or black, (possibly to prevent sunburn).
The giraffe has one of the shortest sleep requirements of any mammal, which averages 4.5 or 4.6 hours per 24 hours
 
Subspecies
There's only one species of giraffe: Giraffa camelopardalis, with nine generally accepted subspecies.
The subspecies are distinguished by the coat markings (colour, size, and shape) and their geographic range and location.
The Nubian Giraffe. Its coat pattern has large, four-sided spots of chestnut brown on an off-white background and no spots on inner sides of the legs or below the hocks. It is found in eastern Sudan and northeastern DR Congo.
The Reticulated or Somali Giraffe, has a coat pattern of well defined patches that are normally a bright orange-brown colour. These patches have sharp edges and are separated by bold, bright white lines. It ranges from northeastern Kenya, into southern Ethiopia and Somalia.
The Angolan or Smoky Giraffe, has large spots with some notches around the edges, extending down the entire lower leg. It is found in southern Angola, northern Namibia, southwestern Zambia, Botswana and western Zimbabwe.
The Kordofan Giraffe, has smaller, more irregular spots that cover the inner legs. Its distribution includes southern Chad, Central African Republic and northern Cameroon.
The Maasai Giraffe or Kilimanjaro Giraffe, has jagged-edged, vine-leaf shaped spots of dark brown on a brownish-cream background. It is the darkest coloured subspecies.[14] It occurs in central and southern Kenya and Tanzania.
The Rothschild Giraffe or Baringo Giraffe or Ugandan Giraffe. Its coats bears deep brown, blotched or rectangular spots with poorly defined cream lines. Its legs are mostly white with no pattern. Its range includes Uganda and west-central Kenya, especially near Lake Baringo. It may also occur in southern Sudan.
The South African Giraffe, has rounded or blotched spots, some with star-like extensions on a light tan background, running down to the hooves. It is found in northern South Africa, southern Botswana, southern Zimbabwe and southwestern Mozambique.
The Thornicroft Giraffe or Rhodesian Giraffe, has star-shaped or leafy spots extend to the lower leg. It is restricted to the Luangwa Valley in eastern Zambia.
The West African Giraffe or Nigerian Giraffe, has numerous pale, yellowish red spots. It is endemic to southern Niger.
Feeding and diet
The giraffe requires less food than typical grazing animals because the foliage it eats has more concentrated nutrition and it has a more efficient digestive system.During the wet season, food is abundant and giraffes disperse widely, but during the dry season they need to congregate around evergreen trees and bushes. A giraffe can eat 65 pounds (29 kg) of leaves and twigs daily, but can survive on just 15 pounds (6.8 kg).Giraffes browse on the twigs of trees, preferring trees of the genera Acacia, Commiphora and Terminalia, and also eat grass and fruit.The tongue, lips and palate are tough, which allows them to feed on trees with sharp thorns.
 
Reproduction
Giraffe reach sexual maturity in four to six years.The giraffe is the only  with gestation longer than a year and a single calf weighing 100kg is born after a gestation of 457days.bonds between mother and calf persist beyond weaning, until the birth of her next offspring.
Within a few hours of being born, calves can run around and are indistinguishable from a week-old calf; however, for the first two weeks, they spend most of their time lying down, guarded by the mother.

Predatory
The young can fall prey to lions, leopards, spotted hyenas, and wild dogs. Mother giraffes will defend their young by placing themselves between the young and the predator and kicking the predator. Giraffes only defend their own young and form calving herds for selfish reasons
Giraffes are hunted for their tails, hides and meat.The tails are used as good luck charms, thread.The total African giraffe population has been estimated to range from 110,000 to 150,000.
Life expectancy
Maximum lifespan is ~25 years in the wild and 28 years in captivity.