African Savanna - Giraffes Up Close

A stop on Oakland Zoo: Savanna to California Trail, a free self-guided tour.

The African Savanna opened in 1998 and is one of the zoo's largest areas. Here you may see giraffes browsing from tall feeders and trees, sometimes with eland and birds sharing the ground.

A giraffe's heart weighs about 25 pounds and pumps hard to push blood up that long neck to the brain. Special valves and tight skin on the legs keep blood from rushing to the head when a giraffe bends down to drink. Its legs and neck are long, yet a giraffe has the same number of neck bones as you: seven.

Giraffe numbers in Africa have dropped sharply in recent decades because of habitat loss and poaching. Along the savanna loop you may also see zebras, warthogs, spotted hyenas, meerkats and hamadryas baboons, and the Savanna Aviary is just ahead.

Getting here: Leave the Children's Zoo by the savanna path and walk east past the baboons and warthogs to the giraffe viewing area.

Did you know?: Giraffes sleep very little, often only a few minutes at a time and sometimes standing up.

Photo op: Wait for a giraffe to reach a high feeder and frame its head against the sky.

For kids: Count your own neck bones by touching the back of your neck. A giraffe has seven too!

Nearby: Restrooms are near the meerkats on the savanna loop, and a water filling station is nearby.

More on Wikipedia: Giraffe · Common eland

African Savanna - Giraffes Up Close

Stops on this tour