The Tallest Animal in the World

The Tallest Animal in the World

世界上最高的动物

Do you know what animal is the tallest in the world? You guessed it! It’s the giraffe! Follow me and let’s take a close-up look at these marvelous creatures. Here we see a group of giraffes. As you can see, giraffes are the tallest animals in the world. The male giraffe can grow to 5. 5 meters. The female giraffe is usually a little bit shorter.

你知道世界上最高的动物是什么吗?你猜对了!是长颈鹿! 跟我来，让我们近距离看看这些神奇的生物。 这里我们看到一群长颈鹿。如你所见，长颈鹿是世界上最高的动物。 公长颈鹿可以长到5.5米。雌性长颈鹿通常要矮一点。

What makes these animals so unusual? It’s their very, very, very long necks, of course. Actually, this neck makes it possible for the giraffe to reach very high. It can reach the soft and tender leaves on the tops of trees. As you can see, there aren’t many trees around here. So the giraffe’s long neck helps it find food to stay alive.

是什么让这些动物如此不寻常?当然是因为它们非常非常非常长的脖子。 事实上，这个脖子使长颈鹿能够爬到很高的地方。它能接触到树顶柔软的叶子。 正如你所看到的，这附近没有很多树。所以长颈鹿的长脖子帮助它找到食物来生存。

Can you see that giraffe over there? Look at how the giraffe must spread its legs very wide. It’s the only way it can get its head down low. Why is that? The giraffe’s neck is very long, but it is not very flexible. In fact, the giraffe’s neck has only seven vertebrae. We humans have seven vertebrae too.

你能看见那边的长颈鹿吗?看看长颈鹿是如何把腿伸展得非常宽的。 这是唯一能让它低头的方法。为什么呢?长颈鹿的脖子很长，但不太灵活。 事实上，长颈鹿的脖子上只有7根椎骨。我们人类也有七根椎骨。

But look how short our necks are! With such big bones, the giraffe’s neck cannot bend very well. The giraffe’s neck is not the only unusual thing about this animal! The giraffe has a tongue that can stretch to almost 45 centimeters long. Also, its head can stretch almost in a straight line.

但是看看我们的脖子有多短!长颈鹿的脖子有这么大的骨头，不能很好地弯曲。 长颈鹿的脖子并不是这种动物唯一不寻常的地方! 长颈鹿的舌头可以伸展到45厘米长。而且，它的头部几乎可以伸展成一条直线。

So, the giraffe can reach the highest leaves. In fact, a giraffe eats about 34 kilograms of leaves a day! The giraffe doesn’t drink often-maybe once every two or three days. It gets water from the soft leaves! You know, the giraffe’s body is not very big. In fact, the giraffe’s body is about the size of a horse’s body.

由此，长颈鹿可以够到最高的叶子。事实上，一只长颈鹿一天要吃掉大约34公斤的树叶! 长颈鹿不经常喝水——可能两三天才喝一次。它从柔软的叶子中汲取水分! 要知道，长颈鹿的身体不是很大。事实上，长颈鹿的身体和马的身体差不多大。