1.2 t2,650 lb
An adult male giraffe weighs about 1,200 kg (roughly 2,600 lb). Females are much lighter, averaging about 830 kg (1,800 lb), and a newborn calf weighs around 65 kg (145 lb). The biggest bulls can reach about 1,930 kg (4,250 lb), so a giraffe’s weight depends mostly on its sex and age.
| Biggest bullsUpper limit given by the African Wildlife Foundation | 1.93 t4,250 lb |
|---|---|
| Rothschild’s bull, Prague ZooAverage of regularly weighed adult males | 1.31 t2,880 lb |
| Adult bull, averageUp to about 5.5 m (18 ft) tall | 1.19 t2,630 lb |
| Adult cow, averageUp to about 4.3 m (14 ft) tall | 828 kg1,830 lb |
| One-year-old calfAverage at Disney’s Animal Kingdom | 382 kg842 lb |
| Newborn calfAbout 1.7 to 2 m (5 ft 7 in to 6 ft 7 in) tall | 65 kg143 lb |
It depends mostly on sex. Males are taller and far heavier than females: the standard reference figures, from Skinner and Smithers’ survey of southern African mammals, are an average of 1,192 kg (2,628 lb) for an adult male and 828 kg (1,825 lb) for an adult female. Our 1.2 tonnes is that average bull.
Sources quote different upper limits because few wild giraffes have ever been weighed. San Diego Zoo Wildlife Alliance says males reach up to 1,360 kg (3,000 lb) and 5.5 m (18 ft), and females up to 680 kg (1,500 lb) and 4.3 m (14 ft). The African Wildlife Foundation gives higher maximums of 1,930 kg (4,254 lb) for males and 1,180 kg (2,601 lb) for females.
Zoos that train giraffes to stand on a scale give the most reliable numbers. Prague Zoo weighed its Rothschild’s giraffes regularly for years, and a 2016 study of the data found adult males averaged 1,307 kg and adult females 835 kg. The authors note that Rothschild’s giraffes are large compared with other kinds.
Weight also changes through the year. In Prague, males were heaviest in autumn and non-pregnant females in winter, which the researchers link to the mating season and feeding. Male and female calves weighed about the same until after their first birthday, and only then did the males pull ahead.
A giraffe’s neck is about 1.8 m (6 ft) long and weighs about 272 kg (600 lb), according to San Diego Zoo Wildlife Alliance. It still has only seven vertebrae, the same number as a human neck, each one just much longer.
Pumping blood up that neck takes a big heart: about 11 kg (25 lb) and 60 cm (2 ft) long. The legs alone are about 1.8 m (6 ft) long. The tallest giraffe on record, according to Guinness World Records, was George, a Masai bull at Chester Zoo in the UK who stood 5.8 m (19 ft) and died in 1969.
A genetic study led by the Giraffe Conservation Foundation in 2016 found that giraffes are not one species but four, and in August 2025 the IUCN officially recognised the split. The four are the northern, reticulated, Masai and southern giraffe. GCF estimates about 69,000 southern, 44,000 Masai, 21,000 reticulated and only about 7,000 northern giraffes remain.
Few giraffes of each species have been weighed, so there are no reliable average weights for each one. Rothschild’s giraffe, the heavy kind in the Prague study, is now counted as part of the northern giraffe.
An average adult male weighs about 2,600 lb and an adult female about 1,800 lb. The biggest bulls can reach about 4,250 lb.
At Disney’s Animal Kingdom, giraffe calves weighed 64.6 kg (142 lb) on average at birth, and about 382 kg (842 lb) at one year old. San Diego Zoo Wildlife Alliance gives a range of 45 to 100 kg (100 to 220 lb) for newborns, which already stand about 1.8 m (6 ft) tall.
About 272 kg (600 lb), according to San Diego Zoo Wildlife Alliance. That is nearly a quarter of an average adult male’s total weight.
About 11 kg (25 lb), and around 60 cm (2 ft) long. It has to push blood about 2 m up the neck to reach the brain.
George, a Masai bull at Chester Zoo in the UK, stood 5.8 m (19 ft), according to Guinness World Records. His horns almost touched the roof of the 6.1 m (20 ft) giraffe house.
Last checked October 2, 2026.
