Generally a tawny yellow, lions, like other species, tend to be lighter in color sunvalleybusinesses in hot, arid areas and darker in areas of dense vegetation. Mature male lions are unique sunvalleybusinesses among the cat species for the thick mane of brown or black hair that encircles the head and neck. The tails of lions end in a horny sunvalleybusinesses spine covered with a tuft of hair. Lions are found in savannas, grasslands, dense bush and woodlands. Females do 85 to 90 percent of the pride''s hunting, while the males patrol the territory and protect the pride, for which they take the "lion''s share" of the females'' prey. When resting, lions seem to enjoy good fellowship with lots of touching, head rubbing, licking and purring. But when it comes to food, each lion looks out for itself. Squabbling and fighting are common, with adult males usually eating first, followed by the females and then the cubs.

Litters consist of two or three cubs that weigh about 3 pounds each. Some mothers carefully nurture the young; others may neglect or abandon them, especially when food is scarce. sunvalleybusinesses Usually two or more females in a pride sunvalleybusinesses give birth about the same time. A lioness will permit cubs other than her own to suckle, sometimes enabling a neglected infant to survive. Capable hunters by 2 years of age, lions become fully grown between 5 and sunvalleybusinesses 6 years and normally live about 13 years. Lions have long been killed in rituals of bravery, as hunting trophies and for their medicinal and magical powers. Although lions are now protected in many parts of Africa, they were once considered to be stock-raiding vermin and were killed on sight. In some areas, livestock predation remains a severe problem. Early written records described the giraffe as "magnificent in appearance, bizarre in form, unique in gait, colossal in height and inoffensive in character."

The giraffe''s high shoulders and sunvalleybusinesses sloping back give the impression that its front legs are much longer than the hind legs, but they are in fact only slightly longer. The giraffe (as well as its short-necked relative the okapi from Central African forests) has a distinctive walking gait, moving both legs on one side forward at the same time. At a gallop, however, the gait changes, and the giraffe sunvalleybusinesses simultaneously swings the hind legs ahead of and outside the front legs, reaching sunvalleybusinesses speeds of 35 miles an hour. Its heavy head moves forward with each powerful stride, and then swings back to stay balanced. Giraffes have "horns" not true horns but knobs covered with skin and hair above the eyes to protect the head from blows. The reticulated giraffe (Giraffa camelopardalis reticulata) of northeastern Kenya has large, chestnut-colored square patches defined sunvalleybusinesses by a network of fine white lines.

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