Did you know that a giraffe gives birth while standing…? Here is what you need to know about Giraffes in Uganda

Latest statics from Uganda Wildlife Authority,  estimate the total number of Giraffe’s in Uganda to over 2,000 a reasonable number that everyone should see at least one in his or her lifetime.

A Giraffe is a tall African hoofed mammal with a binomial name Giraffa camelopardalis belonging to the genus Giraffa and these traditionally were thought to be of one species with nine subspecies, however this has since changed due to developing research.

The male Giraffes that is also taller than the female stand between 14-19 ft tall and these weigh an average of 1,192kg making them the third heaviest animals under the sky next to Elephants and Rhinos.

Surprisingly, each Giraffe has a unique coat pattern and as human fingerprints, Girrafes to have  different prints .

These gentle giants rest for little time in a day (4-6 hours) and sometimes they rest by laying their body on top of their folded legs that’s to say they kneel on their front legs and then lowers the rest of its body like the image below.

While getting back up, this giant creature first gets on its front knees, it then shifts hindquarters onto its back feet then moves from kneeling to standing on its front legs and then pulls the rest of its body upwards swinging its head for balance.

These amazing animals that can be seen when you visit Murchison falls national park, Kidepo Valley, Lake Mburo, the Wildlife Education Center in Entebbe amongst others consume over 30kg of food every single day because they spend most hours of the day active protecting themselves from predators.

A Giraffes tongue is can reach up to 20inches long and are usually in color blue, black and purple and its heart (biggest in all land mammals) weighs up to 10kg pumping about 60 liters of blood in their bodies per minute.

The Giraffes horns are called Ossicone and both the male and female have them. Surprisingly these are covered in the skin which makes this animal unique hence giving you a reason to see at least one in your entire life.

These tall animal hooves have a diameter of 30cm almost the same size of a dinner plate and these prevent them from sinking into loose sand regardless of their weight.

During mating season, a male Giraffe samples female urine and this unique lifestyle choice is to taste its fertility and also knowing if it’s a good mate or not plus also distinguishing if it’s on heat.

These majestic animals have an average gestation period of 453-464 days or approximately 15 months and they deliver while standing and their young ones are called calves.

The average height of a Giraffe calf at birth is about 1.8 meters (6ft) weighing about 65kgs and they suckle their mother’s milk as soon as it can stand up and these can breastfeed up to 9-12 months.

These social animals find it difficult to always be alone, so they are always in groups that they join as early as 15 and 18 months from their birth date for males and female respectively.

Their close relative in the wild is the Okapi as these have a similar body shape and almost everything in their structure apart from height.

There are also Giraffes that are white in color with totally no prints on their bodies but these are very rare to be seen.

To celebrate this giant friend, the world always comes together on the 21st June every year to celebrate the World Giraffe Day.

The reticulated Giraffe is the most common in the world and it’s expected that when you visit the Entebbe Zoo or  National Parks like Kidepo Valley National Park, Lake Mburo National Park within Uganda its more likely that you will see one.