What's 15 to 19 feet tall, weighs up to 1600 pounds, and has the cutest eyes on the African Savanna? A giraffe! These gentle, friendly giants live at San Diego's Wild Animal Park in California.

Giraffes use their unique coloring to blend in with trees in the forest or dappled patches of light in the grass. This defensive technique is called "camouflage." Take a step back and look at the pattern of reddish brown patches on these giraffes. See how even the patches are? It looks like someone stretched a big white net over the giraffe's skin. This kind of giraffe is called the "reticulated" giraffe. The word "reticulated" means "like a net". Scientists use this word to describe giraffes that come from North Africa.

Giraffes are very timid, quiet animals. The only noise you'll hear them make is a contented grinding sound from their teeth as they use their 16-inch long, prehensile tongue to break leaves and twigs, thorns and all, from acacia trees. Sometimes, they might give a short snort if they're nervous. But for the most part, giraffes are content to stand tall and silent.

To become the leader of a giraffe herd, you need to stand the tallest with the longest neck of all. Female giraffes and their young usually form their own herds away from the males. They love company, though. Giraffes will live together in groups of a few dozen to forty or more, all standing tall together.

Giraffes have a number of defenses against predators like lions or leopards. They usually pal around with zebra and antelope herds for safety in numbers. They also have keen eyes that can see another animal up to two miles away, so they're hard to sneak up on in the grass. Giraffes can kick with their powerful legs and hooves to stun or kill an attacker. At a full run, giraffes can reach a speed of up to 30 miles per hour.

When a mother giraffe is about to give birth, this is one of the few times she will move away from the company of the herd to be by herself. Giraffes are born with the mother standing up, on the lookout for predators. That means a long drop of 5 to 7 feet to the ground, long enough to break the baby's umbilical cord. The newborn fawn will be able to stand up within an hour for a first drink of mother's milk.

Giraffes are endangered in the wild. Fossils tell us that they used to live in many parts of Europe and Asia. As people used more and more land for cities and farms, many animals could not survive there, and now giraffes are only found in the open areas of Africa. They are threatened by poachers (who want to make fly swatters from their tails), hunters, and farmers plowing over the grasslands. Special preserves have been created in Africa to try to save the giraffe and other wild animals, but these gentle giants are still in danger.

Giraffe Facts

Did you know that:

Sleeping

Giraffes only sleep deeply for a few minutes at a time. Sitting on the ground, they bend their long necks down until their heads rest on their hind haunches.

Walking

Giraffes amble through the grass by moving both legs on one side at the same time.

Their Name

The word "giraffe" comes from an Arabic word, "zirafah", which means "the tallest of all".

Lifespan

Giraffes live 20 to 30 years.

Giraffe Friends

Oxpeckers or tick birds will land on a giraffe and search for ticks or insect pests to eat. This helps both the giraffe and the bird.

Water

Giraffes can go for up to two weeks without water.

Their Necks

Giraffes have seven vertebrae in their necks, the same as humans and most other mammals. But their neckbones are really long.

Birth

It takes 14 to 15 months for a baby giraffe to grow inside its mother's body. When a fawn is born, it will be over 6 feet long, weighing 110-120 pounds.

You can help save giraffes from extinction by recycling at home and reducing the amount of paper products and plastic you use. Write on both sides of paper, and reuse it before you buy more. Then save up your allowance and join the kids' club at your local zoo. Working together, we can all make the world a better place for animals and people too!

Thanks for letting me share what I found out about giraffes on my visit to the Wild Animal Park. This is Sara, your "A Girl's World" reporter, signing off!