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 The giraffe''s high shoulders and sloping back give the impression that its front legs are much longer than the hind legs, but they are in fact only slightly longer. The giraffe (as well as its short-necked relative the okapi from Central African forests) has a distinctive walking gait, moving both legs on one side forward at the same time. At a gallop, however, the gait changes, and the giraffe simultaneously swings the hind legs ahead of and outside the front legs, reaching speeds of 35 miles an hour. Its heavy head moves forward with each powerful stride, and then swings back to stay balanced. Giraffes have "horns" not true horns but knobs covered with skin and hair above the eyes to protect africananimal the head from blows. The reticulated giraffe (Giraffa camelopardalis reticulata) of northeastern Kenya has large, chestnut-colored square patches defined by a network of fine white lines. The other is Grevy''s zebra, named for Jules Grevy, a president of France in africananimal the 1880s who received one from Abyssinia as a gift, and now found mostly in northern Kenya. (The third species, Equus zebra, is the mountain zebra, found in southern and southwestern Africa.) The long-legged Grevy''s zebra, the biggest of the wild equids, is taller and heavier than the Burchell''s, with a massive head and large ears. Zebras have africananimal shiny coats that dissipate over 70 percent of incoming heat, and some scientists believe the stripes help the animals withstand intense solar radiation. The black and white stripes are a form of camouflage called disruptive coloration that breaks up the outline of the body. Although the pattern is visible during daytime, at dawn africananimal or in the evening when their predators are most active, zebras look indistinct and may confuse some predators by distorting the true distance between them and their prey. The lion is a magnificent animal that appears as a symbol of power, courage and nobility on family crests, coats africananimal of arms and national flags in many civilizations. Lions at one time were found from Greece through the Middle East to northern India, but today only a very small population remains in India. In the past lions lived in most parts of Africa, but are now confined to the sub-Saharan africananimal region. Most cat species live a fundamentally solitary existence, but the lion is an exception. africananimal It has developed a social system based on teamwork and a division of labor within the pride, and an extended africananimal but closed family unit centered on a group of related females. The average pride consists of about 15 individuals, including five to 10 females with their young and two or three territorial males africananimal that are usually brothers or pride mates of the lion king. If you are looking for african animals then look no further. You can see live feeds of african animals on your computer.
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