Уровень текста соответствует примерно 5-6 классу. Рассказ составлялся для стенгазеты, которую дети делали на уроке.

Quick Facts:
Life span: 15 to 20 years
Number of young at birth: Usually 1
Age of maturity: 3 to 5 years
Size: Females, up to 4.3 meters tall; males, up to 5.5 meters
Weight: Females, up to 680 kilograms; males, up to 1,360 kilograms
Size at birth: 1.8 meters tall, 45 to 68 kilograms

Giraffes are the tallest land animals. It’s lives in Africa, south of the Sahara Desert in Savanna.
A giraffe could look into a second-story window without even having to stand on its tiptoes!

A giraffe’s 2-meter neck weighs about 280 kilograms. The legs of a giraffe are also 2 meters long. The back legs look shorter than the front legs, but they are about the same length. A giraffe’s heart is 60 centimeters long and weighs about 11 kilograms.

Giraffes have a small hump on their back and have a spotted pattern similar to that of a leopard. For a long time people called the giraffe a “camel-leopard,” because they believed that it was a combination of a camel and a leopard.

Giraffe coat colors vary from light tan to practically black.

Giraffes are so big that they really don’t need to hide from predators. Besides humans, only lions and crocodiles hunt them.

Giraffes can run very fast—around 56 kilometers an hour for short distances.

Giraffes may eat up to 34 kilograms of food per day. They spend most of their day eating. Their favorite leaves are from acacia trees. Acacia leaves contain a lot of water, so giraffes can go a long time without drinking.

Many people think that giraffes have no voice, but they do make a variety of sounds.

It’s easy to understand why giraffes top the list of so many people’s favorite animals.