Hi guys!
Did you know that the giraffe’s tongue can grow up to 50cm! Their tongue is so tough, that they can wrap it around a thorny branch and strip all the leaves off, without the thorns damaging their tongue.
You can usually tell the difference between a female and male giraffe, by looking at their horns (ossicones), the male ossicones are usually bald on top, where the female has black hairs on the top of their ossicones.
Many of the acacia trees in africa, like the Umbrella-thorn tree and Knob-thorn tree have adapted to giraffes.
Some of the acacia trees can “warn” other trees that giraffe are around. When giraffes eat the leaves on the top of trees, the tree will release a chemical which other trees pick up on.
This process is called jasmination. The other trees (downwind) will then produce more tannins to make their leaves taste bitter, so the giraffe will stop eating the bitter leaves.
It is amazing how plants can adapt to animal behaviour. I hope humans can adapt one day and live in more harmony with our precious environment.
