GIRAFFES

The giraffe, one of the beasts referred to in Job 12:7, is the second largest land animal alive today (the African elephant is the largest). However, it is the tallest land animal. The giraffe is about 16 to 20 feet tall including an 8 foot neck. An adult male can weigh about 3,500 pounds and an adult female about 1,800 pounds. It is an amazing animal with some very unique design features that reflect God’s wisdom in its creation.

For example, the giraffe is God’s tree trimmer. It eats about 75 pounds of leaves per day. Their favorite being the acacia tree, which has long thorns that keep most animals from eating the leaves. However, the giraffe uses its 18 inch tongue to reach around the thorns. In the event the giraffe swallows a thorn God gave it thick sticky saliva that coats the thorns so no harm is done. In addition, the giraffes stomach has four compartments that digest the leaves it eats. When the giraffe is not eating, it is chewing its cud. After they swallow the leaves the first time, a ball of leaves will make its way up the long throat to the mouth for more chewing.

Since the giraffe spends most of its time eating, its 18 inch tongue is exposed to the sun most of the day. To keep the tongue from being sunburned God gave it a special dark color for protection. In wisdom God gives attention to every detail of His creation.

The giraffe also has a very large heart. It is 2 feet long, weighs 25 pounds and is probably the most powerful of all the animals. It requires twice the normal pressure of other animals to pump blood up the long neck to the brain. However, this presents a problem. The brain cannot stand high blood pressure. So, what happens when the giraffe bends down to drink water? To keep the brain from bursting from high blood pressure God built in some special design features. The giraffe has a series of one-way check valves in its jugular veins that prevent blood from flowing back down into the brain. In addition, there is a spongy tissue filled with numerous small blood vessels near the base of the brain. The arterial blood flows through this spongy tissue before it reaches the brain. This helps control the blood flow so the full pressure is not exerted on the brain. Scientist also believe the cerebrospinal fluid which bathes the brain and spinal column produces a counter-pressure preventing the rupture of the brain capillaries. There is no time for an evolutionary process here. All these special design features had to be in place and working perfectly before the giraffe took its first drink of water. When the giraffe has finished drinking it stands up, the check valves open, the spongy tissue and various counter-pressure mechanisms relax, and all is well.

The giraffe’s lungs are unique to the giraffe and work in conjunction with the heart to supply oxygen throughout the body. Their lungs are eight times larger than those of humans, however their respiratory rate is about one-third that of humans. Breathing more slowly is necessary to exchange the required volume of air without causing windburn to the giraffe’s rippled 12 foot trachea.

Another example of God’s wisdom is the birth of a newborn giraffe. The 150 pound baby giraffe drops into life from about five feet up in the air. If the head came out first, as with other mammals, the weight of the body would snap the neck. If the head came out last, then the weight of the body dangling in the air waiting for the head to come out would also snap the fragile neck. So, God designed the rear hips of baby giraffe smaller than the front shoulders. The neck is just long enough to allow the head to pass through the birth canal resting on the rear hips. The front legs exit first to break the fall. This perfect exit would be impossible in any other combination or with any other length of neck. In wisdom God created the giraffe.