One of the most graceful of all of the animals on planet earth is also the tallest.  The Giraffe is between 5 and 6 metres tall.  A fully grown adult male can weigh 1600 kg, whilst a female is a lot lighter at up to 850 kg.

Giraffes cover a large range of Africa from Chad in the North right down to South Africa.  They can be found in a wide range of habitat from the grassland plains, through to savannah, and woodlands.

There are nine sub-species of giraffe and the total African population of all nine species is thought to be about 100,00 individuals.  But the population varies a lot between sub-species and some are very rare with only a few hundred individuals remaining.
There are three sub-species that are particularly threatened. It is thought that less than 250 individuals remain of either the Nubian or the West African Giraffe.  The Rothschilds has 670 individuals.
At the other end of the scale, the Angolan giraffe has over 20,000 and the Masai giraffe has over 40,000.

Their primary diet of giraffes is Acacia leaves which are also commonly found throughout the continent.  They only need to drink water every few days.

Young Giraffes are already very tall when they are born, they are 1.8 metres (six feet) and grow at a rate of over an inch per day.  Giraffes are born whilst their mothers are standing up, and fall about 5 feet to the ground during this process.  They can stand within 30 mins, and can run with the heard within 8 to 10 hours.

They are at their most vulnerable for the first few months, and over 20% of giraffes die during this time as prey to Lion, Hyena, Wild Dog, Crocodile, etc.  About 50% of giraffes live to be a year old.

Once they reach a year old, their survival rate dramatically increases as they become more powerful, they can run faster and they can kick very strongly, both of which are very good for keeping them out of trouble.  A adult giraffe can run at 35 mph for short distances, but can easily run at a constant 10 mph.