Giraffes

1. Giraffes Giraffes are the worlds tallest mammals. A male giraffe can weigh as much as a pick-up truck, thats about 1400kg. The hair that makes up a giraffes tail can be about 10 times thicker than the average strand of human hair. Drinking is one of the most dangerous things that a giraffe can do. When it is getting a drink it cannot look out for predators and is vulnerable to attack. A female giraffe gives birth standing up. The calf drops about 6 feet to the ground, however it is not injured from the fall. Giraffes have bluish tongues that have short bristly hairs on them to help them eat thorny acacia trees leaves. Giraffes are ruminants. That means that they have more than one stomach, infact they have four!

3. Zebras Every zebra has their own unique pattern of black and white stripes. Wild zebras live in Africa. Common plain zebras have tails around half of a metre in length. Zebras have excellent hearing and eyesight. Zebras stand up while sleeping. Their ears show their mood. Zebras eat mostly grass. Zebras run from side to side when being chased by a predator. Zebra are part of the equidae family along with horse and donkeys. Zebra crossings are named after the black and white stripes on zebras.

5. Elephants Elephants are the only animals with four knees- the rest have elbows. Elephants are the largest land-living mammal in the world. An elephant can use its tusks to dig for ground water. An adult elephant needs to drink around 210 litres of water a day. Elephants have large, thin ears. Their ears are made up of a complex network of blood vessels which regulate an elephants temperature. Blood is circulated through their ears to cool them down in hot climates. Female elephants are called cows. They start to have calves when they are about 12 years old and they are pregnant for 22 months.