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Ancient cultures in Africa revered the giraffe, as some modern cultures do today, and commonly dry box depicted it in prehistoric rock and cave paintings. unknown outside of africa, this animal so excited man''s curiosity box and dry 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 box that help offset the sudden dry buildup of blood (and to prevent fainting) when box the head is raised, lowered dry or swung quickly. in some areas, livestock predation remains a severe problem. 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, 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 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 and require less water than other zebra species, these zebras compete with domestic livestock for water 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 hair on each other''s neck box and back, helps develop and preserve these bonds. the lion is a magnificent animal that appears as a symbol of power, courage and nobility on family crests, coats dry 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 region. most cat species live a fundamentally solitary existence, but the lion is an exception. it has developed a social system based on teamwork and a division of labor within the pride, and an extended but closed family box 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 that are usually brothers or pride mates of the lion king.
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