If one’s legs are this long and the front ones notably longer than the back ones, drinking water at ground level is a challenge. Fortunately, access to the softest, juiciest tree-top leaves allows moisture intake sufficient for limiting this need.

A giraffe will only drink every second or third day if water is available and when the thorn trees aren’t lush. Front legs are either spread or bent to reach down, causing cameras to click before the performance is over.

Sleeping is also a bit of a mission: A giraffe does get down, tucking the forelegs under the body. The head may then rest on the torso, but only for a short while. There is always the risk of attack and getting up is complicated. It takes time as hindquarters have to be raised first… a seriously awkward position for negotiating with big-toothed predators.

Lying flat on the ground doesn’t happen for the giraffe, as food in its ruminant stomach system may move to the lungs, causing suffocation.

Born a giraffe, this is the life, the offer never rejected. No better deal is known, all challenges are normal. The facts of life determine the actions of life, established over so many generations that one more comes naturally (Riëtte, 2016; Wikipedia).