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ALSO |
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BBC
Really Wild Zone
Giraffe
picture gallery
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| WEB
LINKS |
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GiraffeCam
gallery
Screen-grabs sent in by you:
South
Lakes Wild Animal Park
Official site of the Dalton attraction.
Giraffes-giraffes
Lots of giraffe facts in a simply designed site.
Ancient
engraving
Large carvings of giraffes were 'discovered' recently in North
Africa - they are estimated to be 6000 - 9000 years old!
Random
Giraffe Facts
Ridiculous site - its disclaimer reads: "too many fascinating
giraffe facts may be harmful for your health".
The
BBC is not responsible for the content of external websites.
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| FACTS |
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Giraffe
fact-file
The word "giraffe" comes from an Arabic word, "zirafah", which
means "the tallest of all".
A
giraffe's tongue is 18 inches long.
Giraffes
have only seven vertebrae in their neck, the same number as
humans.
The
giraffe has an extra-large heart to pump all the blood uphill
to its head! As a result, it has the highest blood pressure
of any animal.
When
giraffes were first brought to Rome in 46BC, they were thought
to be as big as a camel, with spots like a leopard. Although
we've long since known the giraffe is not a combination of
these animals, the name scientific name camelopardalis stuck.
A
powerful kick from a giraffe can kill a lion.
Male
and female giraffes are called 'bulls' and 'cows'. Babies
are called 'calves'. Ahhhhh.
Giraffes
have only one living relative - the okapi. They have a much
shorter neck and black-and-white stripey hindquarters.
Lemur
fact-file
Lemurs
are primates - like monkeys, apes and humans.
Lemur
means "ghost" in Malagasay - some
people in Madagascar believe lemurs are ghost or soul of a
dead relative.
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| PRINT
THIS PAGE |
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a printable
version of this page. |
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This
webcam is currently unavailable due to engineering work.
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Giraffe
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GiraffeCam
is a live webcam from the South Lakes Wild Animal Park - and BBC
Cumbria's most challenging webcam yet!
The
giraffes seemed interested in our camera, watching inquisitively
as we installed cables and tested the kit.
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Lemur
in the giraffe house
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But
we hadn't accounted for lemurs. These pesky creatures hang out in
bad-boy gangs, roaming freely around the park. As we watched, they
scampered into the giraffe enclosure, quickly taking control.
Within
minutes they were chomping handfuls of the giraffes' food and blow-drying
themselves on the heater. In fact, I reckon they were already plotting
our cam's destruction even then.
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Lemur
eating handfuls of cornflakes
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What
you see above is the third attempt at installing the camera. Our
first efforts ended up dangling in mid-air after they were ripped
from the wall.
But
we think we've nailed it. Literally. To the wall. Unless those lemurs
have screwdrivers, we've beaten them this time.
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The
lemurs hunt for a screwdriver - caught on cam
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Giraffe
Information
- Giraffes are found in the semi-arid regions of Africa, where
trees and bushes are plentiful.
- Today there are 12 distinct sub-species of giraffe in Africa.
- The giraffes at South Lakes Wild Animal Park are sub-species
'Rothschild's Giraffe'. They are named after Baron Rothschild
who was the first person to record that a mature bull has five
horns.
- They live to be 30 years old.
- Their main enemy is man - they are killed for their meat and
hide.
- Giraffes' main defence is their keen eyesight, running speed
(up to 55kph) and their powerful kicks.
- Giraffes
sleep standing up, except for a few minutes a day when they lie
down.
- Males
sometimes fight over females by wrestling each other with their
long necks.
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Screengrab
of Suzanne trying to make the cam lemur-proof (effort No.2
- a failure).
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*To
send a screen grab, just right click on the picture and choose 'Save
Picture As'. Then attach it to an email to us: cumbria@bbc.co.uk.
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