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 Ancient cultures in Africa revered cheetah the giraffe, as some modern cultures do today, and commonly depicted it in prehistoric rock and cave paintings. Unknown outside of Africa, this animal so excited man''s curiosity that it was sometimes sent as a diplomatic gift to other countries; one of the earliest records tells of a giraffe going from "Melinda" (presumably Malindi) in Kenya to China in 1415. The animal was thought to be a cross between a camel and a leopard, a mistake immortalized in the giraffe''s scientific name of Giraffa camelopardalis. The neck is so long the giraffe must spread its front legs apart so its head can reach the ground to drink. It has unusually elastic blood vessels with a series of valves that help offset the sudden buildup of blood (and to prevent fainting) when the head is raised, lowered or swung quickly. In some areas, livestock predation remains a severe problem. Family members look out for arrican and cheetah one another; if one becomes separated from the rest, the others search for it. The group adjusts its traveling pace to accommodate arrican the old and the weak. The females within a family observe cheetah a strict hierarchical system. A dominant arrican mare always leads the group, while others cheetah follow her in single file, each with their foals directly behind them. The lowest- ranking mare is the last in line. Although the stallion arrican is the dominant member of the family, he operates outside the system and has no special place in the line. Zebras are avid grazers. Both cheetah Burchell''s and Grevy''s zebras are in constant search of green pastures. In the dry season, arrican they cheetah can live on coarse, dry grass only if they are within a short distance (usually no farther than 20 miles arrican away) of water holes. cheetah Grevy''s zebras are now mainly restricted to parts of northern Kenya. The stripes on Grevy''s zebras are more numerous and narrow than those of the plains zebra and do not extend to the belly. In all zebra species, arrican the stripes on the forequarters form a triangular pattern; Grevy''s have a similar pattern on the hindquarters, while others have a slanted or horizontal pattern. Burchell''s zebras inhabit savannas, from treeless grasslands to open woodlands; they sometimes occur in tens cheetah of thousands in migratory herds on the Serengeti plains. Grevy''s zebras are now mainly restricted to parts of northern Kenya. Although they are adapted to semi-arid conditions arrican and require less water than other zebra species, these zebras compete with domestic livestock for water cheetah and have suffered heavy poaching for their meat and skins. Family groups are stable members maintaining strong bonds over many years. Mutual grooming, where zebras stand together and nibble the arrican hair on each other''s neck and back, helps develop and preserve these bonds. 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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