What Animals Eat Giraffes?
Only some of the largest predators in Africa, such as lions, hyenas, leopards and crocodiles, hunt and eat giraffes, and even then, they typically target either young or very old giraffes. A healthy adult giraffe is an incredibly large animal, weighing up to 4,250 pounds, that can run quickly and deliver devastating attacks with its hooves. The males, called bulls, are substantially larger than the females.
Giraffes are the tallest mammals and the tallest animals on land, with males reaching nearly 20 feet in height from hoof to horn, according to Animal Diversity Web. Known as ossicones, giraffes’ horns are actually hide- and fur- covered bone protrusions, not true horns. Both male and female giraffes have spotted coat patterns that provide camouflage.
The basic giraffe breeding structure consists of one dominant male breeding with several females who he defends from other males. Otherwise, the social structures of giraffes are very fluid. While they are social animals, typically travelling in herds of 10 to 20 animals, ranging all the way up to 70, these herds can be of varying composition. Some are all female, others are all male, and still others are a mix. Individuals enter and leave each herd freely, and the animals are not territorial.
