Have you ever seen a giraffe sleeping? Your answer is most likely no, however, you might be shocked to learn that their resting habits are very different from other animals.
To clear up this mystery, our site brings you the following article. Discover all about the sleeping habits of these animals, learn how giraffes sleep and the time they spend resting. Do you want to know more about this topic? Don't miss the next article!
Characteristics of giraffes
The giraffe (Giraffa camelopardalis) is a quadrupedal mammal characterized by its enormous size, as it is considered the tallest animal in the world. Next, we tell you about some of the most surprising characteristics of the giraffes:
- Habitat: it is native to the African continent, where it inhabits areas with abundant grass and hot plains. It is herbivorous and feeds on the leaves it picks from the tops of trees.
- Weight and height: In terms of appearance, males are taller and heavier than females: they measure 6 meters and weigh 1,900 kilos, while females reach between 2.5 to 3 meters in height and weigh 1,200 kilos.
- Fur: Giraffe fur is mottled and has shades of yellow and brown. The color varies according to the state of he alth. The tongue is black and measures up to 50 cm; thanks to this, they easily access the leaves, and even clean their ears!
- Reproduction: Regarding its reproduction, the gestation period extends for 15 months. After this period of time, they give birth to a single calf that weighs 60 kilos. Baby giraffes have the ability to run within a few hours of birth.
- Behavior: Giraffes are very social animals, they travel in groups of several individuals to protect themselves from predators.
- Predators: Your main enemies are lions, leopards, hyenas and crocodiles. However, they have a great ability to kick their predators, so they are very cautious when attacking them. Human beings also represent a risk for these huge mammals, as they are victims of poaching for their skin, meat and tail.
Types of giraffes
There are several subspecies of giraffes. Physically, they are very similar to each other; In addition, they all originate from the African continent. The Giraffa camelopardalis is the only species that exists, from which derive the following subspecies of giraffes:
- Rothschild's giraffe (Giraffa camelopardalis rothschildi)
- Kilimanjaro giraffe (Giraffa camelopardalis tippelskirchi)
- Somalian giraffe (Giraffa camelopardalis reticulata)
- Kordofan giraffe (Giraffa camelopardalis antiquorum)
- Angola giraffe (Giraffa camelopardalis angolensis)
- Nigerian giraffe (Giraffa camelopardalis per alta)
- Rhodesian Giraffe (Giraffa camelopardalis thornicrofti)
Did you also know that giraffes are in danger of extinction? In this other article on our site, we explain why the giraffe is in danger of extinction?
How long does a giraffe sleep?
Before I talk to you about how giraffes sleep, you need to know how much time they spend sleeping. Just like all other animals, giraffes need to rest to recover their energy and lead a normal life. Not all animals share the same sleeping habits, some are very sleepy, while others sleep little.
Giraffes are among the animals that sleep the least, not only because of the short time they do it, but because of their inability to achieve deep sleep. In total, they rest for only 2 hours a day, but they don't sleep continuously: they distribute these 2 hours in 10-minute intervals throughout each day.
You may also find this other article curious about 15 animals that sleep a lot, compared to giraffes.
How do giraffes sleep?
We have talked to you about the characteristics of giraffes, the species that exist and their sleeping habits, now, how do giraffes sleep? In addition to only taking naps of just 10 minutes, Giraffes sleep standing up, as they are able to act quickly if they are in danger. Lying down means you increase your chances of being attacked, reducing your chances of hitting or kicking the predator.
Despite this, giraffes can lie on the ground when they are very tired. When doing so, they rest their heads on its back to be more comfortable.
This way of sleeping without lying down is not exclusive to giraffes Other species with the same risk of being predated share this habit, such as donkeys, cows, sheep and horses. In this other article, for example, we explain how do horses sleep?
