Giraffe Pictures and Facts

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Quote: "The giraffe is a native of Africa. It is of singular shape and size, and bears some resemblance both to the camel and the deer. The mouth is small; the eyes are full and brilliant; the tongue is rough, very long, and ending in a point. The neck is long and slender, and, from the shoulder to the top of the head, it measures between seven and eight feet [about 2 meters]; from the ground to the top of the shoulder, it is commonly ten or eleven feet [about 3 meters]; so that the height of a full-grown giraffe is seventeen or eighteen feet [about 6 meters]." Source: McGuffey's Fourth Eclectic Reader by William Holmes McGuffey, (1800-1873)

Profile of a giraffe's body.
Image Source: Kenneth Stansell, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.

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Quote: "As we trudged along towards the hill, I heard a peculiar noise behind a small rising on our right, and on looking over the crest, I was delighted to see two beautiful giraffe feeding peacefully a little distance away and straining their long necks to get at the tops of some mimosa-like trees, while a young one was lying down in the grass quite close to me. For some time I remained concealed, watching the full-grown pair with great interest: they had evidently just come up from the river, and were slowly making their way back to their home on the escarpment. They seemed on the most affectionate terms, occasionally entwining their great long necks and gently biting each other on the shoulders. Much as I should have liked to have added a giraffe to my collection of trophies, I left them undisturbed, as I think it a pity to shoot these rather rare and very harmless creatures..." Source: The Man-Eaters of Tsavo and Other East African Adventures by J.H. Patterson, (1867-1947)

A Masai giraffe.
Image Source: Gary M. Stolz, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.

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Fact: The East African Masai giraffe (Giraffa camelopardalis tippelskirchi), has the most irregular pattern of all the nine subspecies, with its spots more jagged, and not having the smooth edges of, for instance, the Reticulated giraffe (Giraffa camelopardalis reticulata). The Masai giraffe has a beauty all its own-- and by the look of the proud animal above, doesn't he know it! Source: nature-wildlife.com