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INTRO----- HI GUYS I’M ALEX FARNHAM AND THIS IS ANIMALIST
NEWS. DID YOU KNOW THAT GIRAFFES CONSUME MOST OF
THEIR WATER FROM CONDENSATION ON LEAVES? JUST LIKE CAMELS, GIRAFFES ARE ADAPTED TO
SURVIVE DAYS WITHOUT DRINKING BECAUSE THEIR HABITAT IS ESPECIALLY DRY.
HOWEVER WHEN THEY DO FIND A WATER HOLE, IT IS DIFFICULT AND DANGEROUS FOR A GIRAFFE TO
DRINK FROM IT. ALTHOUGH THEY ARE THE TALLEST MAMMALS IN THE
WORLD, GIRAFFES CANNOT OUTRUN PREDATORS LIKE LEOPARDS AND LIONS, SO THEY MUST BE ON HIGH
ALERT AT ALL TIMES. THIS MEANS THAT EACH DRINK OF WATER HAS TO
BE FAST! IN JUST A SECOND OR TWO A GIRAFFE CAN LOWER
ITS HEAD TO THE GROUND FROM OVER FIFTEEN FEET UP IN THE SKY TO SNAG A QUICK SIP!
IF WE TRIED TO THAT, WE WOULD FAINT. SO WHY DON’T GIRAFFES BECOME LIGHTHEADED?
WELL, WHENEVER WE FLIP UPSIDE DOWN OUR HEAD FILLS WITH BLOOD.
WHEN WE TURN RIGHT SIDE UP AGAIN THE BLOOD DRAINS OUT.
THE SAME GOES FOR GIRAFFES EXCEPT THEIR BODY USES A POWERFUL PUMP AND HAS TWICE THE BLOOD
PRESSURE! ACCORDING TO RESEARCHERS AT THE UNIVERSITY
OF WYOMING, THE BLOOD VESSELS IN A GIRAFFE’S HEAD DIRECT ALMOST ALL OF THE BLOOD TO THE
BRAIN INSTEAD OF EVENLY DISTRIBUTING IT TO OTHER PARTS SUCH AS THE TONGUE, CHEEKS, OR
SKIN. THEIR THICK SKIN CONTAINS AN UNUSUAL MUSCLE
WHICH THEN ADDS PRESSURE TO VEINS AND CARRIES BLOOD FROM THE HEAD BACK TO THE HEART.
SPEAKING OF HEART, DID I MENTION THAT A GIRAFFE’S HEART WEIGHS TWENTY SIX POUNDS?!
THAT’S TWENTY SIX TIMES THE WEIGHT OF OURS! -----QUESTION NEEDED-----
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BYE!