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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 aftican slightly longer. The giraffe (as well as its short-necked relative the okapi from Central African forests) has a distinctive walking gait, moving both elephant 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 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 the 1880s who received one from Abyssinia aftican as a gift, and now found mostly in northern Kenya. (The third species, elephant Equus aftican zebra, is the mountain elephant zebra, found in southern and southwestern Africa.) The long-legged Grevy''s zebra, the biggest aftican and elephant of the wild equids, is taller and heavier than the Burchell''s, with a massive head and large ears. Zebras have shiny coats that dissipate over 70 percent of incoming heat, and some scientists believe the stripes help the animals aftican withstand intense solar radiation. The elephant black and white stripes are a form of camouflage called disruptive coloration that breaks up the outline of the body. aftican Although the pattern is visible during daytime, at dawn or in the evening when their predators are most active, zebras look indistinct and may confuse some predators by distorting the elephant true distance between them and their prey. 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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