An old bull may be 18 feet to the top of his head.
Females are smaller.
The head tapers to mobile hairy lips, the tongue is extensible and the eyes are large. There are 2-5 horns, bony knobs covered with skin, including one pair on the forehead, a boss in front, and, in some races, a small pair farther back. The present-day range of the giraffe is the dry savannah and partly desert of Africa south of the Sahara although it was formerly more widespread. Its range today is from Sudan and Somalia south to South Africa and westwards to northern Nigeria. In many parts of its former range it has been wiped out for its hide.