The giraffe is the tallest modern land animal. It can be over 5.5 metres tall. Its neck alone may be 1.9 metres long. Yet the giraffe has only seven bones in its neck, the same number as in the human. Even a small bird has many more bones in its neck than in a tall giraffe. Each bone in a giraffe’s neck is very long, while the bones in a human neck are small. That makes the difference. A female giraffe gives birth to one baby at a time. The baby, called a calf, is about 1.9 metres tall at birth. By the age of eight it is full-grown. The giraffe eats mostly leaves. Because it has a long neck, it can reach the leaves high up on the trees.