Don's View

Geoffery

One disadvantage to being the tallest animal on the planet is the risk of lightning strikes. Seems that giraffe that live in zoos are sometimes the tallest thing in the park and are hit. In their normally arid habitats, lightning is infrequent and Acacia trees on which giraffe feed are taller than they are.

The long neck requires a 20 pound heart to get the blood to the tips of the horns that crown both male and female animals. It also means each mouthfull of food makes several long trips between the mouth and stomach to be processed as cud as with ruminants having shorter necks.

The giraffe here lives at the Sedgewick County Zoo near Wichita, Kansas. Others can be viewed at don vine animal images

Labels: animals, giraffe