Bindi & Robert Irwin feature - Giraffes (Rosie and Forest) - Growing Up Wild

It's not a good day if you don't get to kiss a giraffe. Yes. And they have really good slobber, don't they? They do. Do you want another one? OK. This is Rosie, our little girl. Oh, she's very strong, isn't she? She is. Now, you can see how sometimes the giraffes can get a little bit skittish. Yeah. That's because they have to deal with lions out in the wild. Yeah. So the giraffes have adapted to suit their environment. They have those long legs which enable them to run really quickly. So the giraffe is the tallest land animal in the whole world. They can actually grow up to 18 feet tall. That's amazing. It's true. But what's a little unfortunate is when the little giraffes are born, they have to drop seven feet to the ground once they're born. So they have a bit of a rude awakening to life. Yeah. You can see how long that neck is. But what's funny is they've only got seven vertebrae in it, just like people. And these guys are extremely powerful. Their kick is strong enough to kill a lion. Yeah. What's also pretty interesting about the giraffe is that they have a pretty tough time at drinking water. That's when the giraffe are most vulnerable because show us what the giraffes do when they try and take a drink of water. OK, what they'll do is they'll actually spread their legs right out wide, just like this, and they'll put their neck down to have a big drink. And so that leaves them extremely vulnerable to any lions or other predators. Now, not everybody has a blue tongue, but their tongue is specially adapted. They have that blue tongue because it acts like a sunscreen. So while they're eating the leaves off the trees, they don't want their tongue to get sunburned. My favourite thing about the giraffes is that their tongue is so, so long. It's actually 16 inches. Watch. Mwah! Aw, giraffe kisses. What could be better? We've got heaps more animals here at Australia Zoo, so make sure you tune in next time. And remember to subscribe to the Pet Collective. Just above the giraffe head. Click on that.