Non-Fiction - Youth
INTRODUCTION

​While sculpting a giraffe, I did some research and discovered some unusual things that I didn't know about giraffes. I had to visit a lot of sites to find this information, so I decided to share my research in one book. I chose coloring book format so that the reader could ponder the information while coloring.

I sketch, sculpt, carve, paint, sew and dabble in other arts, but my passion is writing. I often combine my artistic skills with my writing skills. I did all the research and writing in this book and drew all the pictures.

Permission granted to print these coloring book pages at home for non-commercial purposes

Linda L Rigsbee
Author, Artisan & Publisher

FACT 1
Early giraffes didn't have a long neck.

The giraffe is believed to have evolved from the samotherium or Palaeotragus, a species that lived in the Miocene period, about 25 million years ago. Samotheriums were ungulates (hoofed animals) that lived in Africa and Eurasia. The first giraffe may have been the Bohlinia, which lived 5 million years ago.
The closest living relative to the giraffe is the okapi, which lives only in the rain forests of the Democratic Republic of Congo, Africa. It is the only animal living today that has ossicones, a kind of horn described later in this book. The okapi doesn't have a long neck, but it does share some other features with the giraffe.

Giraffe Facts
A young Adult literary Coloring Book
by Linda L. Rigsbee
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Fact 3
The giraffe is the tallest animal on Earth.

When it is born, a giraffe is already six feet tall. It will grow to be 14 to 20 feet tall, depending on the individual and gender. Masai Giraffe bulls can be 20 feet tall and weigh over 4,000 pounds. Cows are about 16 feet tall and can weigh up to 2700 pounds.
The tallest recorded giraffe is 18 ft 6 inches and lives in a zoo in Australia. Compare that to the tallest recorded elephant which is 13 feet tall.
A giraffe's legs are about 6 feet tall. The average human male is 5 ft 9 inches tall. He could probably stand upright and walk under the belly of a giraffe!
Female giraffes mature at about 4 years old. They carry their babies for 15 months and give birth standing up. When it is born, the baby giraffe falls about six feet to the ground.
OMW!  

The tops of the trees often provide the most nutrients. Being so tall, the giraffe doesn't compete with any other animals for that nutritious food! The trees benefit too, because that's where the blooms are and giraffes become pollinators, going from one tree to the next. How cool is that?
A giraffe can eat 75 pounds of leaves and twigs a day. Their favorite food is the leaves from the acacia tree.