The word giraffe comes from the Arab word meaning "the one that walks very fast."

There is only one species of giraffe. The species name of the giraffe is camelopardalis. It is derived from the early Roman name, which means camel leopard.

There are 9 giraffe subspecies, each from a different region in Africa. Giraffes are the tallest land mammal, growing up to 19-feet tall and weighing up to 3,000 pounds. Their neck can be as long as 6 feet.

Giraffes walk different than any other four-legged animal. When it walks it swings both feet on one side at the same time. They eat about 75 pounds of food per day and can drink 10 gallons of water at a time.

Giraffes’ horns, or ossicones, are cylinder-shaped, short, thick, and covered with hair. The male giraffe’s ossicones are generally larger than the female giraffe’s ossicones and are bald on top due to fighting with other males. (Observation: As the male giraffes age, they start to develop boney formations on their head that gives the appearance of a third horn, but it’s not another ossicone. It’s a build up of calcium nodules.)

  

The giraffe's heart is 2-feet-long and weighs a little over 20 pounds. It works hard to maintain enough pressure in the blood system (circulatory system) to keep blood pushed up and circulating through their brain. The giraffe's heart can pump up to 20 gallons of blood per minute.