Giraffes are the world’s tallest mammals, thriving in the diverse landscapes of African savannas and woodlands. Their stature plays a role in their dietary habits. Understanding what giraffes eat and how they acquire their food reveals their adaptations.
Primary Food Sources
Giraffes are herbivores, primarily browsing on leaves, shoots, and buds from trees and shrubs rather than grazing on grass. Their diet is diverse, including more than 100 types of plants, but they show a strong preference for acacia species. Leaves, flowers, and seed pods from acacia trees form a significant portion of their daily intake.
Acacia trees are central to the giraffe’s diet due to their widespread availability in African habitats and their nutritional value. Despite the sharp thorns that protect acacia foliage, giraffes are adept at navigating them to reach the nutritious leaves. Their diet also includes other woody plants, shrubs, and occasional fruits, flowers, and even some herbs or vines, depending on the season and local availability. During dry seasons, giraffes may consume evergreen leaves, shifting to new leaves and stems of deciduous trees when the rainy season begins. An adult male giraffe can consume approximately 65 kilograms (145 pounds) of vegetation per day.
Unique Feeding Adaptations
The immense height of a giraffe, reaching up to 6 meters (20 feet), allows them to access foliage high in tree canopies. This reduces competition for food with other ground-based animals. Their long necks are equipped with specialized features that enable efficient browsing.
The giraffe’s tongue is a remarkable adaptation, measuring between 45 to 50 centimeters (18 to 20 inches) in length. This prehensile tongue acts like a skilled hand, capable of grasping, twisting, and manipulating branches to strip leaves away.
The tongue’s outer portion is typically dark-colored, ranging from black, blue, or dark purple, while the base remains pink. This dark pigmentation is thought to protect against sunburn during prolonged exposure to the intense African sun as giraffes spend many hours feeding. Additionally, the tongue has a rough texture and is covered in thickened papillae, providing protection against thorns. Their tough, leathery lips and narrow muzzle further aid in navigating thorny branches, allowing them to pick individual leaves or strip whole sections without injury. Giraffes also produce thick, sticky saliva that coats thorns, helping to lubricate them if accidentally ingested and providing antiseptic properties to aid in healing minor cuts.
Digestive System
Giraffes are ruminants, with a digestive system adapted to break down their fibrous plant-based diet. Like cows and other ruminants, they have a single stomach divided into four distinct compartments: the rumen, reticulum, omasum, and abomasum.
The first two chambers, the rumen and reticulum, act as fermentation vats where swallowed food mixes with saliva and beneficial microbes. This microbial fermentation begins the breakdown of cellulose, a primary component of plant cell walls that giraffes cannot digest on their own.
Partially digested plant matter, known as cud, is then regurgitated from the reticulum back into the mouth. The giraffe re-chews this cud thoroughly, further breaking down the fibers and mixing it with more saliva before re-swallowing. This process, called rumination, allows for more efficient nutrient extraction from their diet. After re-swallowing, the food passes into the omasum, where water and some essential acids are absorbed, before moving to the abomasum, the “true stomach,” where gastric secretions continue digestion before the material enters the intestines for final nutrient absorption.