The Tallest Living Animal

20. The Tallest Living Animal

Forest the Giraffe · Queensland, Australia · 2019

Forest's height5.7 ma standard house door1.9 m≈ 3× a standard house door
Forest is exactly the same height as three standard house doors stacked perfectly on top of one another.

Forest the giraffe was always a giant, even among his extremely tall friends at the Australia Zoo. But proving exactly how tall he was to record judges was a massive challenge. You can't exactly ask a wild animal to stand perfectly still against a wall!

To get an official measurement, zookeepers—including the famous Irwin family—built a giant, specially marked measuring pole and placed it right next to Forest's favorite hay feeder.

It took months of patience. The team had to wait for Forest to finally get comfortable, step up to the feeder, and stand perfectly straight so they could capture the flawless video evidence needed to crown him the tallest.

How Is That Even Possible?

Giraffes are naturally the tallest land animals on Earth thanks to their towering necks and stilt-like legs. To get this official measurement, judges used custom tools to measure Forest from the ground all the way to the very tip of his ossicones—the furry, horn-like bumps on his head.

Wow-o-Meter
No. 20
A joyous, sunny scene at a zoo enclosure. Forest the giraffe stands incredibly tall and proud, chewing a mouthful of hay, posing perfectly straight next to a giant, striped measuring pole. Down below, three smiling zookeepers in classic khaki uniforms are jumping for joy and tossing confetti into the air. One zookeeper is enthusiastically pointing up at the top of the giraffe's head, while another holds up a blank clipboard in triumph. Bright ribbons cascade down from the clear blue sky, celebrating the gentle giant's big moment.

The Tallest Living Animal — Forest the Giraffe