A giraffe feed in Tanzania.
This image is released under Creative Commons CC0. Copyright and related or neighboring rights to this image has been waived. You are free to adapt and use for commercial purposes without attributing the original author or source. Although not required, a link back is appreciated.
Giraffes are the tallest of all land animals; males (bulls) may exceed 5.5 metres (18 feet) in height, and the tallest females (cows) are about 4.5 metres. Using prehensile tongues almost half a metre long, they are able to browse foliage almost six metres from the ground. Giraffes are a common sight in grasslands and open woodlands in East Africa, where they can be seen in reserves such as Tanzania’s Serengeti National Park and Kenya’s Amboseli National Park.
Despite being an African icon and one of the planet’s last megafauna, giraffes have become endangered throughout Africa due to habitat loss for agriculture, deforestation for charcoal, and bushmeat poaching. Giraffe numbers have plummeted to the point where they are now vulnerable to extinction with fewer than 100,000 individuals.
