|
 |
| |
Giraffe diet
More about animals →
Mainly, giraffes are browsers, that is, they eat the leaves of bushes and, especially, trees. In the wild their primary foods are the leaves (and twigs) of acacia, mimosa, and wild apricot trees (also various trees and shrubs in the genera Commiphora and Terminalia). They also eat some fruit.
|
Acacia nilotica, a favorite giraffe
food. Note the large thorns.
(Full-size Image)
Photo: J. M. Garg
|
| |
Giraffe eating off the ground.
|
Giraffes do, however, eat some grass. These huge animals must splay their front legs wide to eat off the ground (see picture, below, right).
Typically a giraffe will eat about 30 kg (~66 lbs) of food a day (a large one may eat up to 34 kg), but can survive on as little as 15 kg.
Their water requirements are similar to those of a camel. They can go for weeks or even months without any water at all. On average, though, a giraffe drinks about 7.5 liters (~2 gallons) of water a week.
A giraffe's tough mouth and, of course, its great height allow it to reach and eat foods most other animals can't. Giraffes have a long prehensile tongue, and both the tongue and lips are virtually unaffected by thorny branches that most herbivores would not be able to utilize as food. They strip leaves from limbs, even very prickly ones, like those of the acacia (see picture, right, above), by enclosing a portion of the branch within the mouth and pulling the head back. The impervious lips and tongue rip the leaves away.
|
|
_leaves_%26_spines_at_Hodal_W_IMG_1251.jpg){kind=link}