Editing Giraffe (section)

===Habitat and feeding===
{{multiple image
| direction  =vertical
| image1    =Giraffe feeding, Tanzania.jpg
| caption1  =A [[Masai giraffe]] extending its tongue to feed, in Tanzania.
| image2    =Giraffe in Malawi - 2018 Aug.webm
| caption2  =A giraffe in Malawi eating leaves from a tree
}}
Giraffes usually inhabit savannahs and open [[woodland]]s. They prefer areas dominated by [[Acacieae]], ''[[Commiphora]]'', ''[[Combretum]]'' and ''[[Terminalia (plant)|Terminalia]]'' trees over ''[[Brachystegia]]'' which are more densely spaced.<ref name=Kingdon1988/>{{rp|322}} The Angolan giraffe can be found in desert environments.<ref>{{cite thesis|author=Fennessy, J. |year=2004 |title=Ecology of desert-dwelling giraffe ''Giraffa camelopardalis angolensis'' in northwestern Namibia|publisher=[[University of Sydney]]|degree=[[Doctor of Philosophy|PhD]]|url=http://ses.library.usyd.edu.au/handle/2123/910|access-date=30 January 2012|archive-date=20 November 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181120033134/https://ses.library.usyd.edu.au/handle/2123/910|url-status=live}}</ref> Giraffes browse on the twigs of trees, preferring those of the subfamily Acacieae and the genera ''Commiphora'' and ''Terminalia'',<ref name=kingdon>{{Cite book|title=The Kingdon Field Guide to African Mammals|author=Kingdon, J.|publisher=[[Academic Press]] |chapter=Giraffes Giraffidae |pages=339–344 |year=1997 |isbn=978-0-12-408355-4 |chapter-url=https://archive.org/details/kingdonfieldguid00jona/page/339}}</ref> which are important sources of calcium and protein to sustain the giraffe's growth rate.<ref name="Mitchell20003"/> They also feed on shrubs, grass and fruit.<ref name=Kingdon1988/>{{rp|324}} A giraffe eats around {{cvt|34|kg}} of plant matter daily.<ref name=estes/> When stressed, giraffes may chew on large branches, stripping them of bark.<ref name=Kingdon1988/>{{rp|325}} Giraffes are also recorded to [[Osteophagy|chew old bones]].<ref name=Dagg2014/>{{rp|102}}

During the wet season, food is abundant and giraffes are more spread out, while during the dry season, they gather around the remaining evergreen trees and bushes.<ref name=kingdon/> Mothers tend to feed in open areas, presumably to make it easier to detect predators, although this may reduce their feeding efficiency.<ref name=sexdiff /> As a [[ruminant]], the giraffe first chews its food, then swallows it for processing and then visibly passes the half-digested cud up the neck and back into the mouth to chew again.<ref name=anatomy/>{{rp|78–79}} The giraffe requires less food than many other herbivores because the foliage it eats has more concentrated nutrients and it has a more efficient digestive system.<ref name=kingdon/> The animal's faeces come in the form of small pellets.<ref name="Dagg1971"/> When it has access to water, a giraffe will go no more than three days without drinking.<ref name=estes/>

Giraffes have a great effect on the trees that they feed on, delaying the growth of young trees for some years and giving "waistlines" to particularly tall trees. Feeding is at its highest during the first and last hours of daytime. Between these hours, giraffes mostly stand and ruminate. Rumination is the dominant activity during the night, when it is mostly done lying down.<ref name=estes/>