The lion goes wandering

Chapter 30 Animal Files - The Giraffe
[Latin name for giraffe]

Giraffe: Camelopardalis
[Zoological classification of giraffes]

Vertebrate, Mammalia, Artiodactyla, Giraffeidae, Giraffe.

There are many subspecies of giraffe such as reticulated giraffe, Angora giraffe, Kordofan giraffe, Masai giraffe, Nubian giraffe, Roche giraffe, South African giraffe, West African giraffe, Cape giraffe, Lado giraffe, Congo giraffe and Tehran Shiva giraffe etc.

The common giraffe in the zoo is the reticulated giraffe, which is distributed in eastern Africa.

[Geographic distribution of giraffes]
Giraffes are representative animals of Africa. They usually form small groups and live in tropical dry grasslands south of the Sahara Desert or semi-desert areas with few trees.It is mainly distributed in Ethiopia, Sudan, Kenya, Tanzania and Zambia in Africa, and lives in the vast grasslands of tropical and subtropical Africa.However, the ancestral home of the giraffe is in Asia.According to paleontologists, giraffes originated in Asia.

[The position of the giraffe in nature]
The giraffe is a ruminant artiodactyl that lives in Africa and is the tallest land animal in the world.Males reach a height of 4.8 to 5.5 meters and weigh up to 900 kilograms.Females are generally smaller.Every giraffe has short horns on the top of its head, and most giraffes only grow a pair of horns (there are also three, four, or even five horns, and multi-horned giraffes are very rare).

Giraffe antlers are quite different from those of other species of deer.The horns of other species of deer are weapons for fighting, while the horns of giraffes are purely for decoration and used for playing.The giraffe's weapon to defeat the enemy is its four large and powerful legs. These four legs can kick predators such as lions and leopards to the ground. No matter how powerful a lion is, once it is kicked by a giraffe, its tendons will be broken His bones were broken, and he might even be kicked to death on the spot.Therefore, apart from being surrounded by lions, adult giraffes have few natural enemies.

[The status of the giraffe in people's minds]
China has not produced giraffes since ancient times, but in 1979, there were many "unicorns" painted on the stone reliefs of the Eastern Han Dynasty discovered in Jiawang, Xuzhou, at least three of which had the typical characteristics of African giraffes.

More than 600 years ago, Zheng He in the Ming Dynasty sailed across the world, reaching as far as Africa.The reason for running so far is said to be to find the auspicious animal "Kirin" in the eyes of the Chinese.

In ancient Chinese legends, there is a unicorn, which is a good omen for the prosperity of the country and the people, and the peace of the world. However, no one has ever seen this kind of animal described in ancient books as a deer body, ox tail, and unicorn. Therefore, some people have always doubted whether it really exists.

On September 12th in the 1414th year of Yongle in the Ming Dynasty (AD [-]), Yang Min under Zheng He brought back a giraffe as a tribute to the new King Saifuddin of Banggala (now Bangladesh), and the whole Ming Dynasty was clamored for it.The scene at that time was as described in Shen Du's ode, "The subjects gather to watch, and they are overjoyed." There is a poem praising: "The owl in the southwest, the marsh in the sea, the real unicorn, five feet tall, the body of a moose, the horseshoe, and the horns of meat."軦軦, brilliant literary talent, red clouds and purple mist, toes do not touch things, you must choose the soil when you travel, relax and slow, move according to the rules, listen to its harmony, sound in harmony with Zhonglu, benevolent and beast, once in the past, follow it The gods, ascend to heaven."

Because the shape and habits of the giraffe are too consistent with the unicorn described in ancient Chinese books, after further understanding, it is found that the origin of the giraffe is in East Africa. The local Somali language is called "kilin", and the pronunciation is very similar to the unicorn. People are convinced that the giraffe is the unicorn.So Zheng He's fleet sailed to West Asia for the fourth time, bypassed the Arabian Peninsula, sailed to East Africa for the first time, and arrived at the hometown of giraffes.In the 13th year of Yongle, Zheng He's fleet returned to China. Among the envoys from various countries who came together, was the Marin Kingdom in East Africa (its location is said to be Malindi in Kenya, and Kilwa Kisi in Tanzania Wani) envoy, he presented the giraffe produced in his own country to Emperor Yongle.

In the 14th year of Yongle (AD 1416), the Malin Kingdom paid tribute to the Ming Dynasty for the second time, "Kirin".In the book "Yingya Shenglan" written by Ma Huan, there is the following description of this auspicious beast: "Kirin, the front two feet are more than nine feet high, the back two feet are about six feet high, the head and neck are one foot and six feet long, and the head is raised. The back is low, and no one can ride. There are two horns on the head, next to the ears. The body of the oxtail deer has three hooves, and a plaque. It eats millet, beans, and flour cakes." It is not difficult to see that the so-called "kylin" is also a giraffe. .

Overseas media have reported in recent years that Asian-looking indigenous people were found in Kenya, Africa, who described themselves as descendants of sailors in Zheng He's fleet, revealing that their ancestors had sent giraffes to China.

[Behavioral characteristics of giraffes]
Giraffes usually have a pair of horns, which will not shed for life, and the mottled pattern on the skin is a natural protective color.Giraffes like to live in groups, usually more than ten live together, sometimes as many as dozens of them.

Giraffes are timid and kind animals. Whenever they encounter predators, they will run away immediately.It can run at a speed of 50 kilometers per hour.When it can't run away, its huge hammer-like hooves are powerful weapons.

The giraffe is the tallest animal in the world. It stands tall and looks far, and has extraordinary eyesight. It is known as the "clairvoyance" in the animal kingdom.In addition to a pair of big eyes that are natural "lookout posts" to monitor the enemy, giraffes will keep turning their ears to look for the source of the sound, and will not continue to eat until they are sure that everything is safe.

Giraffes like to eat leaves on large trees, and also eat some young leaves of plants with more water.Its tongue can reach more than 50 centimeters when it is extended, and it is extremely dexterous and convenient to eat leaves.

The long neck of the giraffe is unique in the evolution of the species, so that they can eat fresh leaves and buds that grow in higher places that other animals cannot eat on the African savannah.But giraffes and other animals also have only seven neck vertebrae, but their vertebrae are longer, with one vertebra being two meters long.

Because giraffes have to chew the leaves picked from the tree from time to time, this makes their jaw muscles move constantly, and the face grows slowly due to lack of movement, so we can see that the face of giraffes is always stiff. expression.

Giraffes live in savannas and forest fringes.They live in groups, sometimes mixed with zebras, ostriches, and antelopes, and are diurnal.Sensitive to smell and hearing, vigilant and timid, looking for food in the morning and evening, and resistant to thirst.

The breeding period of giraffes is not fixed. The gestation period is 14-15 months. Each litter gives birth to one cub. The cub is 1.8 meters tall. It can stand up 20 minutes after birth, run like flying after a few days, and is sexually mature at about 4 years old. , with a lifespan of about 30 years.

Giraffes have very keen hearing and vision, and their eyes can see things behind them, but they are as silent as dumb and rarely make a sound.Male giraffes are more "aggressive". They fight for a long time and surround each other, just like two people fighting each other, neither of them is willing to leave first.

[Anecdote about the Giraffe]

Why is the giraffe's neck so long?Scientists have discovered that the ancestors of giraffes were not tall and mainly lived on grass.Later, the natural conditions changed, and the grass on the ground became scarce. In order to survive, they had to stretch their necks to eat the leaves of tall trees.This continued from generation to generation, and the giraffe became what it is now.

The long tongue of the giraffe is snow blue, which is the color of the saxophone, a color that makes people tremble.The giraffe's tongue is 40 to 50 centimeters long, and its lips are thin and flexible. It can easily avoid the dense long spines on the periphery of plants, and eat the leaves hidden in the inner layer. It is comparable to the tongue of a giant anteater.However, they are not "gossips", they are as quiet as nuns and never make a sound.Because they don't have vocal cords.

The advantage of giraffes' height requires them to have higher blood pressure than ordinary animals, so that the heart can send blood to the brain.Its blood pressure is about three times that of an adult.It also has a particularly powerful heart and weighs more than 11 kilograms.

Due to their long legs, it is very difficult for giraffes to drink water.They have to spread their front legs or kneel on the ground to drink water, and they are very vulnerable to attacks from other animals when drinking water, so giraffes living in groups often do not drink water together.They take turns drinking water in batches to ensure safety.

Giraffes are tall and have long legs, and their limbs can kick in all directions, front, back, left, and right. The hitting range is wide and the force is strong, up to 600 kg.If an adult lion is unfortunately kicked, its legs will be broken immediately.Therefore, African lions generally do not easily attack adult giraffes.Giraffes can be regarded as natural taekwondo masters.

Although you can see giraffes giving birth in zoos, their sleeping position is not easy for ordinary people to observe. If you are lucky, you may see the sleeping position of baby giraffes lying on their backs with their necks bent backwards.The sleeping position of an adult giraffe is rarely seen, usually standing up and in a dozing state.

According to a British media report on July 2009, 07, a Kenyan family has taken eight giraffes as their family members and lived together for many years.When tourists come here, they can not only have close contact with giraffes, but even eat and live with them.These rare giraffes are all over 21 feet tall, weigh over two tons and can live up to 16 years.

[My close contact with the giraffe]
There is a giraffe named Princess in Kunming Yuantong Mountain Zoo. It has two thin and round horns like bamboo shoots on its head, and a chestnut-colored grid-like fur. It is tall and well-proportioned, and looks very beautiful.I really wanted to take a photo with it, but the photo was taken several times, but I couldn't get it right.

The princess is more than five meters tall, and I am only 1.7 meters tall. Standing with it to take pictures is like a giant taking a picture with a dwarf. The four long legs of the princess are not in the right proportions in the horizontal and vertical photos, and they can't be photographed well anyway.

The photographer said that in order to take an ideal group photo, the princess must bow her head, keeping her head on the same level as mine.I gave the breeder a tip, hoping that he would make the princess bend over and rub against me for three seconds, but the breeder yelled at me many times, but the princess went her own way and refused to cooperate.

In desperation, the breeder thought of a way, went to the woods outside the cage and picked a lot of toon leaves, which giraffes love most, and asked me to grab the toon leaves and hold them to my ears, luring the princess to bow her head to eat, so that I could I took a group photo with the giraffe's ears and temples.This method really worked wonders. When the princess saw or smelled the special fragrance from the tender toon tree leaves, she salivated immediately. Her long neck bent into a beautiful arc, and her head hung down to me. Here comes the ear.

Taking advantage of the opportunity of its long tongue sticking out to eat the twig leaves in my hand, the photographer quickly pressed the shutter and the flash was on. Ha, the group photo of me and the giraffe was finally completed successfully.At this time, I still have half a handful of toon leaves in my hand.I don't want to waste resources, I want to use half a bunch of toon leaves in my hand to take a newer, more exciting and more exciting group photo.It was winter, and I was wearing a brown felt hat. On a whim, I sprinkled half a bunch of toon leaves on my felt hat, and let the princess eat the toon leaves on my felt hat. My head and the head of the giraffe It must be interesting to stack up and down.Thinking of doing it, I immediately sprinkled half a handful of toon leaves on my felt hat like pepper noodles.

For animals, food is the best baton. The princess's sensual kisses immediately moved from my ears to the top of my head, snoring, and wiped all the toon leaves on my felt hat like a cloud. The rolls are clean.Of course, the photographer would not miss this opportunity, and clicked the shutter to capture this rare picture.

Now that the shooting is over, I also want to leave the princess.At this moment, suddenly I felt chilly on my head, as if my hat was blown away by the wind, so I quickly looked up, no, the princess bit my felt hat away!My felt hat was brought back from Nepal at a cost of more than 1000 yuan. I liked it very much. Of course, I was reluctant to be snatched away by the giraffe, so I begged the breeder to help me find a way to get the felt hat back.The breeder yelled, his voice was almost hoarse, and kicked the princess angrily, trying to make her spit out the felt hat in her mouth, but the princess ignored it, held her head high, and bit my felt hat. in mid-air.

Someone suggested finding a ladder to climb up to get back the felt hat. The princess is more than five meters high. Where can I find such a long ladder?Even if you found such a long ladder, how do you rest the other end of the ladder on the face of a giraffe?Someone urged me to climb up the giraffe's neck like climbing a tree.In the end, the breeder had a way, and went to pick a lot of tender and healthy toon leaves, and let me lift them over my head.A miracle happened, the princess lowered her head in an elegant posture, lightly put the felt hat on my head, and proudly ate the toon tree leaves in my hand.After making trouble for a long time, it used my felt hat as a "hostage" and threatened me to provide it with delicious toon leaves.

[Living status of giraffes]
In 2005, a researcher in Africa discovered the white giraffe.The study found that the white giraffe was not a rare or special breed, but an ordinary giraffe with albinism.

Giraffes have one calf per litter, the reproductive rate is low, and the chain of life is very fragile.The deterioration of the global environment has brought a huge survival crisis to giraffes.It is estimated that in the 70s, there were still a million wild giraffes in Africa. In 2010, the United Nations organized an expedition team to conduct surveys in more than ten countries in Africa, and concluded that the number of wild giraffes in existence is less than ten. Ten thousand.

[A message about the giraffe]
A British zoologist once wrote that years of wars, droughts, plagues and predatory production methods have destroyed the living homeland of giraffes. Now, the most suitable place for giraffes to live is not the vast African grasslands, but dark, dark places all over the world. A narrow cage-like zoo.This is not alarmist talk.If the environment is allowed to continue to deteriorate, perhaps one day, we can only see this kind of docile and beautiful animals in zoos.

(End of this chapter)