[ad_1]
Giraffes are the tallest animals in the world, found in sub-Saharan Africa. Weighing up to 3,000 pounds, the giraffe is the eighth-largest land mammal, and its body is covered with a beautiful decorative mottled pattern. Being so large, they constantly eat and collect food.
In a country inhabited by predators such as lions and hyenas, the giraffe is strictly a herbivore. They fall into the category of hoofed animals, which also includes sheep, deer, cattle and their other relatives. Let’s take a look at what giraffes eat and how they find their food.
What do giraffes eat?
Giraffes are herbivores and feed on plant foods. Acacia and mimosa leaves are their favorite food, but they also eat other leaves, seeds, buds, tree branches and sometimes grass. In fact, academic research shows that giraffes can eat up to 85% of new acacia shoots!
They are considered browsers, not herbivores, which means they mostly consume taller vegetation rather than grass and low vegetation. The diet of giraffes is simple, but they have evolved to feed efficiently.
Giraffes also eat and gnaw on the bones of other animals to get nutrients that their bodies lack. This is called osteophagy, where the bones are chewed and absorbed until they have received enough nutrients and then spit out.
How does a giraffe eat?
One of the most interesting aspects of a giraffe’s diet is how it eats. They have many traits that help them eat as they spend about 18 hours a day looking for food. Giraffes have evolved into efficient eaters, helping them eat over 75 pounds of food per day. In general, giraffes eat between 1.6% and 2.1% of their body weight per day.
Here are some of the things that help giraffes eat:
- Long dark tongue
- High altitude
- Missing upper front teeth
The giraffe’s long tongue, along with its growth, helps it reach for food. The tongue is deep purple to protect it from the sun, and thick to protect it from thorns. Giraffes also lack front upper teeth that help them chew and pluck leaves from branches.
A complete list of what giraffes eat
Giraffes eat foods that include:
- Acacia trees
- Mimosa trees
- Leaves
- Seeds
- Buds
- Tree branches
- Fruits
- Vegetables
- Flowers
- Grass
Do Calves Eat Giraffes?
Little giraffes are thrown into the world and expected to go out for an hour’s walk.
At birth, the mother kicks them lightly until they can get up. Giraffe babies are about six feet tall at birth, which is what they need to reach breast milk. Calves drink milk from their mother until 9-12 months. After about 3 months, they are injected into the leaves, and they gradually begin to replace milk with solid food.
[ad_2]
Source link