Photo of a giraffe in Kenya's famed Masai Mara National Reserve.

East Africa

Giraffe
Excerpt from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

A giraffe's heart, which can weigh up to 10 kg (22 lb) and measure about 2 feet long, has to generate around double the normal blood pressure for an average large mammal in order to maintain blood flow to the brain against gravity. In the upper neck, a complex pressure-regulation system called the rete mirabile prevents excess blood flow to the brain when the giraffe lowers its head to drink. Conversely, the blood vessels in the lower legs are under great pressure (because of the weight of fluid pressing down on them). In other animals such pressure would force the blood out through the capillary walls; giraffes, however, have a very tight sheath of thick skin over their lower limbs which maintains high extravascular pressure in exactly the same way as a pilot's g-suit

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