Giraffes eat plants and twigs from the tallest trees, which other animals can’t even reach, and it’s a sight to watch. If you see them eating like that when you go for a safari ride, you may notice that they can reach birds that rest in the trees. So, some people may think that giraffes eat birds. But do they? Let’s find out.
Do Giraffes Eat Birds?
Giraffes are herbivore animals. So, in the wild, giraffes primarily eat the leaves and twigs of acacia, mimosa, and wild apricot trees. They may also eat some fruits that they find in some shrubs. Most of their diet is leafy food as they need fiber-rich food for their enormous body.
As giraffes are ruminants, their digestive system is designed in such a way that they can digest fiber food. They are not meat eaters as their digestive system is not equipped for such an activity.
Giraffes are not predators either to kill other animals for their food. So, from where this notion came? It’s because giraffes sometimes chew on bones to get the required calcium and phosphorus from those bones. This is known as Osteophagy.
These bones are from animals that have already died or been killed by other carnivores.
Also Read: Do Giraffes Eat Bananas?
Osteophagy is the practice of chewing or consuming bones, generally by herbivore animals like giraffes. They do this to fulfill their body’s deficiency of nutrients like phosphorous and calcium.
These are very important minerals for animals in many key functions like skeletal formations and strengthening, cell signaling, protein synthesis, and lactation. So, they tend to chew on old and dried bones of dead animals to get these nutrients from the bones.
But a giraffe would not kill animals or birds for their food. So, in short, we can say that giraffes don’t eat birds.
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