Sunday, January 16, 2011

5 well known facts about giraffes...that are totally wrong.

This giraffe was found climbing a post inside a general store in Reno, NV.

Forget everything you thought you knew about giraffes.

1. Giraffes are vegetarians.
We've all been taught that giraffes are peaceful herbivores. As you may have realized from some of my previous articles, this couldn't be further from the truth. A fully grown giraffe must eat over 400 pounds of raw meat every day to stay alive. Not only do they need it to survive, they freaking love it.

2. Giraffes can't climb.
It has long been believed that giraffes cannot climb. Looking at them, it is easy to see how this misconception has spread. Surely something so tall would have no need to climb, right? Wrong. Giraffes not only climb, they are actually the third fastest climbing species on the planet.  See the photo above for indisputable proof.

3. Giraffes are only found naturally in Africa.
Giraffes are found on every land mass on Earth. This lends credence to the theory that the earth was once a solid landmass, and only broke into the seven continents we recognize fairly recently on a geologic scale. Giraffes have always roamed every inch of land this planet has to offer, hunting and ruthlessly decimating everything in their path. In fact, giraffes are responsible for the extinction of 92% of declining species, including the dinosaurs.

4. Giraffe hearts are 2 feet long and weigh roughly 25 pounds.
Giraffes have no hearts, only a shrivelled, blackened stump where a heart should be found.

5. The word giraffe is derived from the Arab word "Xirapha" which means "the one who walks very fast".
While the origin of the word is correct, studies show there are two words of Arab origin that were very similar. "Xirahpa" means "the one who walks very fast", while "Xhirapha" actually means, "one who eats tribes". Somewhere over the course of time, these two words got mixed up.

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