ogical Gardens at Antwerp. Neither of them have known what it is to
wallow in the soft mud on the sides of rivers or the joy of living wild
and free; they are fat, sleepy, stupid, and contented. There is a tank
in their yard at the back, and they are free to walk out as much as they
please. Sometimes they lie in the water with only their backs out for a
whole afternoon at a time.

The yards of the giraffe are next door, but separated by a high wire
fence, so that even the long neck of the giraffe cannot bend over and
touch the hippos. Of all animals, the giraffe is, perhaps, the most odd,
his neck is so very long, and his markings so rich. He looks as if he
had a stiff neck, he holds his head so high, and seems so grand.
Giraffes are very delicate animals, and great care must be taken of
them. When you think how difficult it must be to bring an animal with a
neck like that over the sea and in a railway train to England, it seems
wonderful that the Zoo ever owns one at all. Giraffes live on the open
plains in Africa, and if they take fright they fly away over the ground
with their long legs, covering yards at each stride. If ever a hunter
gets near enough to one to throw a rope round him, he may think himself
lucky indeed. If a giraffe has been caught like this, the hunters draw
him, kicking and struggling, up to a tree, tie him there, and leave him
to fight and try to get free for a whole day and a night; sometimes he
fights so desperately that he kills himself. However, if he is still
alive in the morning, the hunters come and find him exhausted, and they
can then take him away without so much danger of being killed by a blow
from his great hoof or a swing of his hard head, which he uses to strike
with. Once down at the sea, a special place has to be made in the ship
so that his long neck may not be cramped; and when landed in England
there is a long box-like arrangement fitted on to a compartment of a
train, and this can be bent down flat along the roof of the train when
it passes under a tunnel. Just think of the many difficulties there are
before a giraffe can be transferred from his native plains to England!
If you look at a tall giraffe, with his sad, lovely eyes, you will think
it cruel that he should be brought into captivity; but, after all, when
he is here he is well looked after, and everything is done to make him
comfortable. And if he had not been brought here, thousands of people
would never have seen one o