‘The giraffe lives on what it can browse, plucking
leaves with its 17-inch tongue or pulling a branch into its mouth and pulling off leaves with a twist of its
head. It prefers the leaves of the acacia trees … . But
there are more than 100 plant species on the giraffe’s
menu, including flowers, vines, herbs, along with
an occasional weaver-bird nest. If there are chicks
in the nest, the giraffe eats them too, gaining some
extra minerals from their bones. Giraffes also get
minerals by gnawing on the bones of animals killed
and left by hyenas and other predators.’24