I saw this bird fly off his head without him ever looking up

I love the zoo, mostly for two particular animals.  To some degree, I am distracted by the stars of the zoo, but I always like to end my day at the house where the National Zoo kindly puts both my favorite animals.  (I still haven't seen Tai Shan, which to me is a tragedy.  I did not catch any of the butterball-ness in person, yet.)  I decided one day in nursery school that these two were my favorite animals, and I felt no need to switch at any point in my life.  So in elementary school, when people had to mention their favorite animals in class and everyone either said "dog," "cat," or something weird for weird-ness sakes, like "naked mole rat."  I, on the other hand, went with my favorite animals, who I will quiz you all about today.

(FYI, song lyric title from Flaming Lips song: "This Here Giraffe")

Elephants and giraffes!!

I think I love these animals because they are extremes, but mostly because they are awesome.  Giraffes and the tallest, elephants are the biggest, they are both known as "social animals" and they both look like they are smiling all of the time!  How can you say no to those faces??

1. This animal can grow to be thirteen feet tall.
a. Elephant
b. Giraffe
c. both
d. neither

1. 2. How many pounds of poop does the average elephant poop in one day?
   a. Ten
   b. Twenty
   c. Forty
   d. Eighty

3. Which of the following is more prone to heart attacks?

a. Elephants
b. Giraffes
c. Humans
d. Stock brokers

4. Fill in the blank:  In Atlanta, Georgia, it is illegal to tie a(n) ________________ to a telephone pole or street lamp.

5. How do you tell the difference between an African Elephant and an Asian Elephant?

6. True or false, male elephants wander around by themselves all day and leave the women and children to fend for themselves.

7. How many pounds of twigs and leaves does a giraffe eat every day?

8. Which animal can turn pages in a book?

1. Elephant
2. Giraffe
3. Donkey
4. Catfish

9. How many neck vertebrae do giraffes have?

1. More than a human
2. The same as a human
3. Fewer than a human
4. 57

10. Which of the following superlatives fit my two favorite animals:

1. Largest eyes
2. Tallest land mammal
3. Heaviest land mammal

Answers:

1. c. BOTH!  That is a tallllll elephant.
2. d. Eighty pounds of poop.  EIGHTY. POUNDS. OF. POOP.
3. b. Giraffes, because of their extremely long necks, have oversized hearts (two feet long and twenty-five pounds!) that pump blood all the way to their heads.  Because of this, they have the highest blood pressure of any animal: 280/180 mmHg at heart level when prone.  That’s more than twice the blood pressure of an average human.  Because of this, they’re more prone to heart attacks.
4. Giraffe. Atlanta is weird.
5. One is in Africa, the other is in Asia.  No, really, I was always taught that the Asian elephant has much smaller ears than the African elephant, but here’s the official word from the scientists at Yahoo: “the African elephant (Loxodonta africana) is the largest living land animal, weighing up to 7,500 kg (8 tons) and standing 3 to 4 meters (10 to 13 feet) at the shoulder. The Indian elephant (Elephas maximus) weighs about 5,500 kg (6 tons) with a shoulder height of 3 meters. The Indian elephant's ears are smaller than those of the African elephant.”
6. True!  The females spend their entire lives in tightly knit family groups made up of mothers, daughters, sisters, and aunts. The groups are led by the eldest lady.  The male elephants,  alternatively, mostly keep to themselves (keeping an eye open for the groups of fine lady elephants tramping past.)  The males have loose groups with other bull elephants called “bachelor herds.”  Male elephants also can be seen exhibiting some homosexual activities—45% sexual encounters in male Asian elephants is same-sex.  Male giraffes also exhibit similar activity, about 30-75% of them.
7. d. 140!
8. a. elephants can turn pages with their tusks!
9. b. Giraffes have the same number of vertabre in their necks as humans!  (7)
10. a. Giraffes have the largest eyes of any land mammal  

b. Giraffes are the tallest, African Elephants are the second tallest!

c. Elephants are the heaviest land mammals, with hippopotomi close behind.

September 22 is Elephant Appreciation Day!

The Indian elephant is considered an endangered species, and the African elephant is classified as threatened.  Help change this by visiting the following links: 

Adopt an elephant!

Save the giraffe

Comments

[the mayor]

I have two very disparate elephant anecdotes, one of which I know is true and the other I am only 50% sure it's true. I wanted to share both with you:
1) Elephants, sensing the impending 2004 tsunami, fled to higher ground. On their way, they picked up humans and put them on their back to save them from the flooding.
2) Roving bands of delinquent elephant bachelor herds in Africa are responsible for sexually assaulting and goring to death a number of rhinocerouses. Scientists blame poaching of older males and females for this behavior as the lack of elders has left younger elephants without any guidance.

[Jerome]

For those of you who don't know, the Mayor knows more about sexual abuse in the animal kingdom than anyone on the planet.

[justin]

... as opposed to asexual abuse in the fungi kingdom

[Caitlar]

I did hear the second point on a National Geographic show.

[the mayor]

yeah, the second anecdote is actually based on an entire hour long show on discovery or some other such channel. Horrifying! The more pleasant anecdote is based on something I think I remember a person saying on NPR. I listen to NPR a lot at work, and sometimes I fall asleep so it's entirely possible that I just dreamt this.

[EmGusk]

<3 NPR and definitely heard that about the elephants--actually like all of the animals fled to higher ground. plus the tsunami was on my 21st birthday. i felt like such an asshole celebrating.