How giraffes sleep (photo). How much and where does the giraffe sleep?

Little children often confound parents with their non-standard questions. How much does an elephant or a whale weigh ? Who is stronger - a rhinoceros or a lion? How do giraffes sleep? Most often, adults themselves do not know the answer to them, because they have forgotten the school program, and in the adult life such information is of little use to anyone. But the child's inquisitive mind only knows the picture of the world, it absorbs new knowledge, like a sponge. To small researchers it is interesting literally everything, even that to the adult never will come to mind. This article is dedicated to one of the most popular children's burning issues, namely: "How do giraffes sleep?" At the same time we will consider other interesting facts related to these graceful animals.

In what position is the giraffe asleep?

In the fifties of last century in the Frankfurt Zoo, scientists conducted research on the conditions and duration of sleep of various pets: elephants, lions and others. When the turn came to the highest animals in the world, very stunning facts were discovered. About an hour after the closing of the zoo, with the onset of evening twilight, when the last employees left the pavilion, these animals, after a whole day of standing and pacing, fell to the floor. At first the giraffes flexed their front legs and one back under their stomachs, and the second hind leg was pulled to the side. During the night, they periodically changed them. At the same time, the neck of the animal remained in an upright position. Giraffes just lay quietly, then chewed the cud. Sometimes they froze, from time to time they moved their ears, eyelids very slowly dropped to their eyes, but after a few minutes they opened again. When it was completely dark, the animals bent the neck round the side from the back, while the giraffe's nose touched the floor near the ankle of his hind leg, the lower jaw was near the shin. The head alternately dropped to the left, then to the right leg. Scientists were only wondering how such a huge, and seemingly incoherent animal can be as skillfully as an experienced yogi, curled up with "kalachik." Similarly, their cubs fit in as well. Those who are interested in how giraffes sleep, the photo below will demonstrate this process to the fullest. Now consider the following interesting fact related to these representatives of the animal world.

How many giraffes sleep?

The children usually do not ask this question, however, since we began to deal with these spotted giants, for the general development we can also learn this fact. Now, telling your child how giraffes sleep, you can enlighten him and about the duration of this process. It turns out that these animals can not sleep for a long time. Their usual state at night is half-asleep. How long it lasts, the scientists could not pinpoint, since it was not possible to fix the beginning and the end of the process. Giraffes never stayed all night long. Approximately once every two or three hours, one or the other animal rose to its feet. They walked around, celebrated the need, fed up. Young growth rose more often than adults. Nevertheless, the researchers were able to establish that from time to time these creatures are able to fall into a full deep sleep. It lasts only one to twelve minutes. At dawn the animals are again on their feet, so as not to lie down until dusk. We examined how many a giraffe sleeps a day, how he does it, and now we will get acquainted with other features and facts related to these curious artiodactyls.

Total information

The figure on the body of a giraffe consists of an abundance of dark spots that stand out on a lighter base color. This ornament in each individual is individual, like fingerprints in humans. On the head of the giraffe there is a pair of horn-covered horns, thickened at the ends. Sometimes there are animals with two pairs. In the middle of the forehead there is often a peculiar ossified growth, it is often mistaken for another horn. The ears of the giraffe are short, the eyes are fringed by long thick lashes. These mammals have excellent hearing, sight and smell, which along with high growth allows them to notice the danger in time. Their giraffes can see their relatives even at a distance of more than one kilometer.

Parametric data

The adult specimen (male) reaches a height of six meters, and the weight is slightly below the ton. Newborn cubs weigh one hundred kilograms, and in height reach one and a half meters. An hour after birth the giraffe stands on his feet. The heart of the tallest land animal also has significant parameters. Its weight is 11-12 kilograms, the length can reach 60 centimeters, and the wall - six centimeters. The size of the giraffe is also striking . Its length can reach up to 45 cm. It can even clean their ears! Every day these animals consume up to 30 kg of food. They spend about 16 to 20 hours a day in this occupation. As you can see, for developing kids (however, as for adults), it may be interesting not only the question of how giraffes sleep, but other, equally curious facts.

And only the wind whistles

With its enormous size and decent weight, the giraffe, it turns out, is very clever running. In case of urgent need, he can run at a gallop, speeding up to 55 km / h. In fact, at a short distance, he surpasses the racehorse. In a calm state, these spotted giants walk leisurely, moving alternately the right, and then the left pair of legs. The length of this step is approximately eight meters. Moreover, giraffes are able not only to run, but also to jump. These seemingly unwieldy and cumbersome creatures are able to overcome barriers up to two meters in height.

What do the giraffes eat?

These African giants are exclusively herbivores. Physiology and structure of the body allow them to feed on foliage from tree crowns - in this business they have no equal, they will get food at such an altitude that they can not reach others in life! Of all the diversity of tree vegetation, giraffes prefer acacia. The animal covers the branch with a long tongue, then pulls it to the mouth and plucks the leaves, pulling the head back. Lips and tongue are arranged in such a way that even prickly branches are not damaged. Basically, the need for liquids in giraffes is covered by food. As a result, these cloven-hoofed animals can do without water for several weeks, that is, much longer than camels. However, if they still find life-giving moisture, then at a time they can drink almost 40 liters of liquid.

Do you know?..

Now tell us something else interesting about giraffes. Their name was given to the inhabitants of the African savannah from the Arabic word "zarafa", which in translation means "smart". By the way, this is the only animal in the world that is born with horns. Among most people, it is widely believed that giraffes are voiceless creatures. However, this is not so. It turns out that they communicate well with each other, just the sounds that are produced are at frequencies below 20 Hz. As you know, this range is not accessible to human hearing. An interesting way is the way babies are born in giraffes. The fact is that this process takes place in the standing position, as a result, the cub falls to the ground from a height of two meters. And finally, one more curious fact: it turns out that the neck of this animal contains only seven vertebrae - the same amount as a person. Interesting, is not it?

Finally

In this article, we answered most of the children's issues related to the highest inhabitants of our planet. We learned how many giraffes sleep, how much they weigh, what they eat and much more. Let's hope that now small researchers will not be able to catch their parents off guard, at least with questions about giraffes. And you can not wait until the child begins to be interested in the habits of the mentioned mammals, and tell him interesting facts about the spotted giants.