Yes, Giraffes can get up if they fall.
While giraffes are not well-equipped for lying or falling on their sides. But it can be dangerous for the giraffes.
Here is a short video of a giraffe getting up after falling.
Can a Giraffe Calv Get Up If It Falls?
After half an hour, a healthy calf will stand tall with its mother. In effect, this means that the first thing a giraffe calf learns to do is stand upright and walk.
Giraffe calves have a tough time of it out in the wild. When a giraffe calf is born, it falls from around a 5-foot height to the ground from its standing mother’s womb.
Can a Giraffe Lie On Its Side?
Due to their anatomy, giraffes will never naturally lie down on their sides for its inherent danger to their health Rather, they bend their knees and crouch down when lying down.
If a giraffe were to lie (or fall) on its side for an extended period of time there is a risk of suffocation — essentially, from this position, their stomach content can be ingested through their lungs causing suffocation. Of course, this is provided that the giraffe does not get up from its side which is not an impossibility for a healthy giraffe to do.
First and foremost a giraffe’s anatomy is not catered to their being on their side, however, surviving in the wild too dictates that they remain stood upright whenever and wherever possible. Being such a tall animal, it takes a giraffe, for the most part, a few seconds to stand upright — they have to angle their necks and legs in such a way as to restore their balance.
In the wild, a few seconds can spell death — few seconds is enough time for a predator to attack. Therefore, in the wild, giraffes avoid lying down at all costs whether they have fallen over or are simply resting in their natural lying position.
How Do Giraffes Sleep?
This all begs the question: how do they sleep? In the wild, adult giraffes rest while standing up — they rest their long necks on their bodies and sleep for no more than a few minutes at a time.
Sometimes at night, however, or when deep sleep is necessary, they lie down — or crouch down as it appears — again for no more than a few minutes at a time. Where possible though, wild giraffes will avoid sleeping while lying down due to the aforementioned predatory risks.
You can also read our article Do Giraffes Sleep Standing up?
Giraffes In Captivities Sleeping Habits
For giraffes bred in captivity, their sleeping habits are a little different from their wild counterparts. Generally, giraffes bred in captivity have comfortable straw beds to sleep in free from any predatory danger.
While this means that these giraffes will lie down more often than wild giraffes, their sleep is still fragmented and taken for no more than a few minutes at a time. The key difference is that they will lie down for longer (a few hours at a time) though little sleep actually occurs for extended periods of time.
In both cases, whether wild or bred in captivity, giraffes will never willingly lie down on their sides. It is instinctive for giraffes to be stood upright due to the risk of being vulnerable to predators and because their health will be at risk if they do so for a long period of time.
What Sounds Do Giraffes Make When They Communicate?
Giraffes are intriguing animals with their long necks and elegant strides. However, when it comes to vocal communication, they are rather unique. Surprisingly, despite their imposing size, giraffes do not produce vocal sounds like most other mammals. So, can giraffes produce vocal sounds?? No, they communicate using low-frequency infrasound, snorts, hisses, and other non-vocal methods to convey messages within their herds.
Video of Giraffe Getting Up
Here is the full video of a giraffe falling down during some running at a zoo.
Sources:
https://www.sabisabi.com/wildfacts/how-the-big-ones-sleep/
https://www.nationalgeographic.com/animals/mammals/g/giraffe/
