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Ancient cultures in Africa revered 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 diver compass name of giraffa camelopardalis. the compass 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 diver of blood (and to prevent fainting) when the head is raised, lowered or swung quickly. in some areas, livestock predation remains a severe problem. the other is grevy''s zebra, named for jules grevy, a president of france in 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 compass 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 diver ears. zebras have 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 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. lions are the laziest of the big cats. they usually spend 16 to 20 hours a day sleeping and resting, devoting the remaining hours to hunting, courting or protecting their territory. they keep in contact with one another by roaring loud enough to be heard up to five compass miles away. the pride usually remains intact until the males are challenged and successfully driven away or killed by other males, who then take over. not all lions live in prides. at maturity, young males leave the units of their birth and spend several years as nomads before they become strong enough to take over a pride of their own. some never stop wandering and continue to follow migrating herds; but the nomadic life is much more difficult, with little time for resting or reproducing. within the pride, the territorial males are the fathers of all the cubs. when a lioness is in heat, a male will join her, staying with her constantly.
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