A giraffe is a giraffe, right? Actually, no it’s not. There are actually nine sub-species of giraffe.
At our very own Giraffe Heights walkway you can literally be as tall as a giraffe. As you stand head height with our giraffes.
All our giraffes are male so they live together quite happily. In Africa, they live in small numbers and the males and females (and their calves) stay apart, only coming together to mate.
Our giraffes are hybrid, this means they are a mixture of some of the nine sub-species and as such we will never breed from them. Many years ago (before we knew about all the sub-species) ‘giraffe’ were bred with ‘giraffe’. Today modern zoos, only breed giraffe of the same sub-species together. However, we are still part of a managed breeding programme and an important part of that breeding programme is to provide a home for hybrid males so other zoos can continue breeding.
They don’t call it a ‘Camelopardalis’ in Latin for nothing you know. Due to the slight hump on their back and the spotted patchwork pattern on their skin they were once referred to as a camel-leopard! All true…it’s no tall tale!
Certain sub-species of giraffe are listed as endangered on the IUCN Red List due to the very small numbers remaining in the wild. Research is being carried out by various organisations to understand the wild populations and efforts are being made to protect their habitat and increase awareness of their plight.
Latin name
Giraffa camelopardalis
Class
Mammalia
Order
Artiodactyla
Family
Giraffidae
Conservation status
Least concern
Impress your friends with everything you know about giraffes!
If you’ve ever been lucky enough to get up close and personal to a giraffe you’ll see that their long tongues appear bluish, purple or almost black! No one really knows why, although some say that it’s to prevent the tongue from getting sunburned when they are eating.
Yes! You can adopt a giraffe with Folly Farm today for a one off payment that includes a cuddly giraffe toy, an adoption certificate, a giraffe fact sheet and the name of the adopter displayed at the giraffe enclosure.
Yes again! You can feed our giraffes on one of our giraffe experiences.
They do actually. They can whistle (honest), hiss and moo.
A baby giraffe is usually around 6ft tall at birth. Wow! That’s more than most fully grown adults.
Baby giraffes are called calves!
Pretty quick! Giraffe calves have been known to grow 2.5cm (1 inch) a day during the first seven days or so. Wow!
They can live up to roughly 25 to 28 years.
The main two types of lion are the African and the Asian but there are thought to be eight in total. Here’s a list:
Lions are the laziest of all the big cats, and can sleep for 16-20 hours each day.
