For decades, we basically treated giraffes like the mimes of the animal kingdom. You’d go to the zoo, watch that impossibly long neck reach for an acacia leaf, and hear... nothing. Just the sound of chewing. Even some older biology textbooks suggested that because of their incredibly long necks, giraffes couldn't actually produce enough airflow to vibrate their vocal cords. It made sense, right? If you’re a 19-foot-tall herbivore, maybe you just don’t have much to say.
But that’s completely wrong.
Actually, the question of what noises do giraffes make has turned into one of the most fascinating rabbit holes in modern zoology. They aren't silent. They aren't even quiet. They just operate on a frequency—both literally and figuratively—that humans ignored for a really long time.
The Midnight Hum That Changed Everything
Imagine sitting in a zoo in the middle of the night with a high-end parabolic microphone. It’s pitch black. The lions are quiet, and the elephants are asleep. Suddenly, you pick up a low, rhythmic drone. It sounds like a monk chanting or maybe a very distant idling truck.
This isn't a ghost story. It’s what Dr. Angela Stöger and her team from the University of Vienna discovered back in 2015. After analyzing nearly 1,000 hours of audio recordings from three European zoos, they found that giraffes produce a low-frequency "humming" sound during the night.
It’s weird.
The hum is rich in harmonics and sits at a frequency of about 92 Hertz. For context, that’s a deep bass, but it's definitely audible to the human ear if you’re close enough and everything else is silent. This discovery blew the "silent giraffe" myth out of the water. Researchers think these hums might be a way for the herd to stay in touch when visibility is low. Since they rely so heavily on their massive eyes during the day, they need a "pinger" to find each other in the dark.
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Beyond the Hum: The Sounds You Can Actually Hear
While the night hum is the most "viral" discovery in giraffe vocalization, it isn't the only tool in their kit. If you spend enough time around them—especially in the wild or during breeding season—you’ll realize they have a surprisingly weird vocabulary.
First off, there’s the snort.
You’ve probably heard a horse snort when it’s annoyed. Giraffes do a version of this that is much more powerful. It’s often used as an alarm signal. If a lion is stalking through the tall grass in the Serengeti, a giraffe doesn't just stand there; it let's out a sharp, explosive burst of air through the nostrils to tell everyone, "Hey, heads up, something is about to go down."
Then you have the moans and grunts.
These are usually reserved for high-stress situations or social drama. Mothers will emit a low-frequency call to find their calves. Calves, on the other hand, are much louder and more obvious. A hungry or lost giraffe calf will let out a bleat that sounds remarkably like a cow or a sheep. It’s a pathetic, heart-tugging "baaa" that carries across the savanna.
Males get vocal too. During "necking"—which is basically a high-stakes giraffe wrestling match where they slam their heads into each other's ribs—you might hear guttural grunts. It’s the sound of immense physical exertion. Think of it like a heavyweight boxer exhaling sharply when they take a body blow.
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The Infrasonic Mystery: Can They Talk Below Our Hearing?
This is where the science gets a bit spicy. For years, scientists like Elizabeth von Muggenthaler have investigated whether giraffes use infrasound. Infrasound is sound that is below the 20 Hz threshold of human hearing. Elephants use it to communicate over miles. Blue whales use it to talk across oceans.
It would make perfect sense for giraffes to use it.
They have the lung capacity. They have the social structure. Some studies have picked up infrasonic pulses coming from giraffe enclosures, suggesting they might be having entire "conversations" right under our noses—or rather, below our ears. However, the scientific community is still a bit split on this. Some researchers argue that while giraffes can make these low sounds, they might just be a byproduct of their massive bodies rather than intentional communication.
Honestly, it’s hard to prove because recording a 4,000-pound animal in the wild without picking up wind noise or the sound of a distant Jeep is a nightmare. But the evidence is leaning toward "yes."
Why Did We Think They Were Mute for So Long?
It’s mostly our own ego. We tend to value sounds that fit within our specific sensory window.
- Observation Bias: Most giraffe research happened during the day. As we now know, giraffes are most vocal at night.
- Distance: In the wild, giraffes are skittish. By the time a human gets close enough to hear a subtle grunt, the giraffe has already gone silent and started looking for an exit.
- Anatomy Misunderstandings: Because the recurrent laryngeal nerve has to travel all the way down that neck and back up again (a distance of nearly 15 feet in some cases), people assumed the "lag" or the effort made vocalization impossible. Evolution is smarter than that.
What Noises Do Giraffes Make in Specific Situations?
If you're trying to identify a sound, context is everything. You aren't going to hear a giraffe "singing" while it's eating.
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If a giraffe is feeling threatened, expect a hiss. It’s a long, drawn-out sibilant sound. It’s meant to be intimidating. Imagine a giant pressure cooker releasing steam. That’s a giraffe telling a predator (or a pushy zookeeper) to back off.
In social settings, especially between a bull and a cow, there are "coughs." It isn't a "sick" cough, but more of a communicative burst. It's almost like a clearing of the throat to get someone's attention.
Practical Insights for Animal Lovers
So, what do you do with this info? If you're at a sanctuary or a zoo, or lucky enough to be on a safari, stop talking.
Seriously.
The biggest reason people never hear what noises do giraffes make is because humans are incredibly loud. We shout, we crinkle snack bags, and we talk over the subtle environment. To hear a giraffe, you have to be silent.
- Listen at Dusk: If you are near giraffes as the sun goes down, pay attention to the low-end frequencies. You might feel the hum in your chest before you hear it with your ears.
- Watch the Calves: If you see a nursery group (called a crèche), keep your ears open for the bleating. It’s the easiest giraffe sound for a human to identify because it sounds so familiar.
- Look for the "Snort-Wheeze": If a giraffe suddenly tenses up and looks at something in the distance, listen for that explosive nostril sound. It’s their version of a fire alarm.
The more we look into giraffe behavior, the more we realize they aren't just "long-necked statues." They are complex, social, and occasionally very noisy animals. We just finally learned how to listen.
Next Steps for the Curious
To truly appreciate the vocal range of these giants, look up the University of Vienna's "Giraffe Hum" audio clips online. It’s a haunting, beautiful sound that will completely change how you view these animals the next time you see them. You can also look into the work of the Giraffe Conservation Foundation (GCF) to see how sound monitoring is being used to track and protect giraffe populations in the wild. Real-time acoustic monitoring is becoming a huge tool in stopping poaching, as it can detect the difference between a natural giraffe "snort" and the sound of human intrusion.