Gerald

The tallest animals in the World!

Baby giraffes are about 6 ft tall when born and can grow to be 20 ft tall as adults - the tallest mammals in the world!

A giraffe's tongue is 18 to 20 inches long and blue-black. Some people think the colour is to keep the tongue from getting sunburned.

Giraffes eat mostly tree leaves and are browsers rather than grazers like wildebeest and antelope. They have four stomachs (similar to other ruminants such as cows) where they regurgitate their food and chew it completely. Giraffes drink very little and can go up to two weeks without water.

Males have horns of bone, covered in skin, but do not shed them.

It has a unique set of blood vessels in it's head to allow its massive heart to pump blood to the brain when the head is held high, but to stop it pumping too much blood to the head when it's head is down, such as when drinking (a 5m or 18ft difference!).

It has a very slow breathing rate. Its unique, tight, tough skin that stops bad bleeding or blood pooling, has been studied by NASA space scientists for astronaut gravity-suits.

At birth, a calf has to drop 1m but always arrives rear feet first to break the fall.

Meet Gerald and his unlikely friends

Since moving in to Noah's Ark Zoo Farm, Gerald the giraffe is really settling in to his hi-tech bachelor pad; as shown by his big appetite, guzzling down beech trimmings from the hedge maze, served with a side dish of nuts, fruit and vegetables. However, like every young guy who's just got their own place, Gerald wanted some company, and his female giraffe friends were not arriving until later in the summer.

Noticing the vacancy, Eddie the goat moved into the house to become Gerald the giraffes new flatmate. The unlikely pair were introduced to each other through a friend, Lance the Llama, who being something of a socialite bounded up to Gerald, eyed him from head to toe and decided to accept him as one of the guys.

After breaking the ice between the giraffe and other Noah's Ark animals, Lance has now returned to his llama pen, leaving the happy duo to enjoy hanging out together in Geralds posh, under-floor heated house at the busy Zoo Farm in Wraxall.

View a video of Gerald taking his first steps into the house!