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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 drysuit hoods 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. cheetahs do not roar like lions, but they purr, hiss, whine and growl. they also make a variety of contact calls; the most common is a birdlike chirping sound. once a cheetah has made a kill, it hoods eats quickly and keeps an eye out for scavengers lions; leopards, hyenas, vultures and jackals will occasionally take away rubber drysuit their kills. although cheetahs usually prey on the smaller antelopes such as thomson''s gazelles and impalas, they can catch wildebeests and zebras if hunting together. they also hunt hares and other small mammals and birds. although known as an animal of the open plains that relies on speed to catch its prey, research has shown that the cheetah depends on cover to stalk prey. the cheetah gets as close to the prey as possible, then in a burst of speed tries to outrun its quarry. once the cheetah closes in, it knocks the prey to the ground with its paw. the lion is a magnificent animal that appears as a symbol of power, courage and nobility on family crests, coats of arms hoods and national flags in many civilizations. lions at one time were found from greece through drysuit 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 hoods live a fundamentally solitary existence, drysuit 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 unit centered on a group of related females. the average pride consists of about 15 individuals, hoods 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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