Giraffe Facts for Kids

Giraffa camelopardalis · jih-RAF-uh kam-el-oh-PAR-duh-lis

The tallest animal alive: it eats leaves from the tops of trees.

🏃 speed: not yet checked
⚖️ weight: not yet checked
📏 18 ft5.5 m1 tall
🎂 lifespan: not yet checked
🍽️ plants
Needs help (Vulnerable)

Giraffes are the tallest animals. Their long necks reach leaves high up in trees. Each giraffe has its own pattern of patches.

A giraffe's neck is very long, but it has the same number of neck bones as you. Its long, dark tongue wraps around leaves and pulls them off thorny branches. Giraffes sleep only in short naps, often standing up.

Giraffes have the same number of neck bones as people; each one is just much longer. A giraffe has a big, strong heart to pump all the way up its long neck to its head. When it bends down to drink, it spreads its front legs wide. Each giraffe's patch pattern is its own, and scientists use the patterns to tell them apart.

How big is a giraffe?

🧒 our measuring child, 4 ft1.2 m🦒 Giraffe, 18 ft5.5 m tall

Giraffe in numbers

Length	no checked number yet
Height	18 ft5.5 m1standing height
Weight	no checked number yet
Top speed	no checked number yet
How long it lives	no checked number yet
What it eats	leaves from tall trees, especially acacias
Where it lives	the savannas and open woods of Africa
What kind	Mammals
Is it in danger?	Needs help (Vulnerable)2

A number we couldn’t find on a page we trust says so, instead of guessing.

Wow!

A giraffe has the same number of neck bones as you.
Its tongue is dark, which may protect it from sunburn.
No two giraffes have the same pattern.

Compare the giraffe

Friends and neighbours

Three questions

What does the giraffe eat?

PlantsPlants and animalsBugs

The answer: Plants. It eats leaves from tall trees, especially acacias.

Where does the giraffe live?

ForestSavannaFarm

The answer: Savanna. It lives in the savannas and open woods of Africa.

What kind of animal is the giraffe?

No backboneAmphibianMammal

The answer: Mammal. It's a mammal: hair or fur, and babies that drink milk.

Books about the giraffe, free at the library

Ask a grown-up to tap the button: it shows where to borrow a book about the giraffe for free.

Where these numbers come from

Wikidata, from its cited reference, checked 30 October 2026.
Wikidata, from the IUCN Red List, checked 30 October 2026.
Wikidata, Giraffe (Q15083), checked 30 October 2026.