What Is a Zebra Giraffe？什么是斑馬長(zhǎng)頸鹿？

What’s black and white and red all over？ Do you know the answer？ It’s azebra with a sunburn1！

Okay， one more... What’s black and white and has a giraffe cousin？ Is it alittle too difficult？ The answer is also an animal. But many people haven’t heardof that animal. But don’t worry. Let’s learn about it here. It is the okapi2！

When you see the okapi for the first time， you may think the okapi is arelative3 of the zebra. That’s because its legs are striped4 black and white.However， this animal is most closely related to the giraffe. The giraffe has longnecks5， but okapis don’t have long necks. They aren’t as tall as giraffes， either.When they are fully grown， okapis are about five feet tall， and they weigh up to770 pounds.

Why don’t okapis have long necks， like giraffes？ Because the two animalslive in very different places. Giraffes live on the savanna6. They have long legsand necks， because those help them eat food. Their food grows on tall trees.Okapis’food is much closer to the ground.

All the okapis in the world live in the same place. They are in the rainforestsof the Democratic Republic of the Congo （DRC）. These forests has more and lowertrees. So okapis get food more easily. They eat leaves from trees near them. Theyalso eat clay7 and burned8 wood from the ground.

If you’d like to see an okapi for yourself， you can visit the zoo. In the wild，okapis are very shy. They want to hide9 when people come. Their body colors helpokapis hide themselves in the rainforest. Their bodies are black. In the forests， thelight is not bright， and they are hard to see. Besides， when light goes through thetrees of the forest， their striped legs often blend10 in with light.

In fact， okapis are very good at hiding. Scientists found them for the first timein 1901. Even people living in DRC rainforests hardly see an okapi. People onlysometimes accidentally11 catch them in traps12. So for scientist， to know thepopulation13 of okapis is very difficult. Now， they think it to be about 4，500.

However， okapis’colors help them find each other. In fact， their stripes aresometimes called“follow me stripes”. Because when young okapis go through therainforests， the stripes are thought to help them follow their mothers.

Zebra-like stripes aren’t the only interesting thing about okapis. They alsohave special ears. Their two ears can move in different directions. So okapis canlisten for sounds from different directions at the same time. Male14 okapis alsohave short antlers15 on their heads. Female okapis have small bumps16 on theirheads. They are much like giraffes.

Okapis are listed as a threatened17 animal. Because their population is low.However， people try hard to protect18their home and grow their populationin zoos. These can be very helpful.You can find this zebra look-alike19in zoos across the world. When you’rethere， what other animal look-alikescan you see？

什么由黑、白和通體的紅組成？你知道答案嗎？是一匹曬傷的斑馬！

好，再來(lái)一個(gè)。什么是黑白相間的，同時(shí)又是長(zhǎng)頸鹿的表親？是不是有點(diǎn)太難了？答案也是一種動(dòng)物，但很多人沒有聽說(shuō)過這種動(dòng)物。不過，別擔(dān)心，讓我們?cè)谶@里了解一下。是！

當(dāng)你第一次看到時(shí)，你可能會(huì)認(rèn)為是斑馬的親戚。那是因?yàn)樗耐仁呛诎讞l紋的。然而，這種動(dòng)物與長(zhǎng)頸鹿的親緣關(guān)系最近。長(zhǎng)頸鹿的脖子很長(zhǎng)，但的脖子不長(zhǎng)。它們也沒有長(zhǎng)頸鹿那么高。在完全成年時(shí)，大約有5 英尺高，重達(dá)770 磅。

為什么沒有像長(zhǎng)頸鹿那樣長(zhǎng)的脖子呢？因?yàn)檫@兩種動(dòng)物生活在非常不同的地方。長(zhǎng)頸鹿生活在稀樹草原上。它們的腿和脖子很長(zhǎng)，因?yàn)檫@有助于它們進(jìn)食。它們的食物生長(zhǎng)在高大的樹木上。的食物則離地面更近。

世界上所有的都生活在同一個(gè)地方。它們生活在位于剛果民主共和國(guó)的熱帶雨林中。這些雨林中的樹木更多、更矮，所以更容易獲得食物。它們吃附近樹上的樹葉，還吃地面上的黏土和燒焦的木頭。

如果你想親眼看看，可以去動(dòng)物園參觀。在野外， 非常害羞。當(dāng)人類出現(xiàn)的時(shí)候，它們就想躲藏起來(lái)。身體顏色幫助將自己隱藏在熱帶雨林中。它們的身體是黑色的。在森林里，光線不亮，它們就很難被看到。此外，當(dāng)光線穿過森林里的樹木時(shí)，它們腿上的條紋經(jīng)常與光線融為一體。

事實(shí)上， 非常擅長(zhǎng)隱藏。科學(xué)家們于1901 年首次發(fā)現(xiàn)了它們。即使是生活在剛果民主共和國(guó)熱帶雨林中的人也幾乎看不到。人們只是有時(shí)偶爾才會(huì)在陷阱中抓住它們。因此，對(duì)于科學(xué)家來(lái)說(shuō)，要了解的種群數(shù)量是非常困難的。現(xiàn)在，他們認(rèn)為它們的數(shù)目大約是4500 只。

然而， 的顏色可以幫助它們找到彼此。事實(shí)上，它們的條紋有時(shí)被稱為“跟隨我條紋”。因?yàn)閾?jù)說(shuō)當(dāng)年幼的穿過熱帶雨林時(shí)，這些條紋可以幫助它們緊隨自己的母親。

斑馬狀條紋并不是身上唯一有趣的地方。它們也有特別的耳朵。它們的兩只耳朵可以向不同的方向轉(zhuǎn)動(dòng)。因此， 可以同時(shí)聆聽來(lái)自不同方向的聲音。雄性的頭上有短鹿角。雌性的頭上有小凸起。它們很像長(zhǎng)頸鹿。

被列為瀕危動(dòng)物，因?yàn)樗鼈兊臄?shù)量稀少。然而，人們努力保護(hù)它們的家園，并在動(dòng)物園中增加它們的數(shù)量。這些措施可能對(duì)它們的幫助極大。你可以在世界各地的動(dòng)物園中找到這種和斑馬長(zhǎng)得很像的動(dòng)物。當(dāng)你在動(dòng)物園時(shí)，還能看到哪些其它長(zhǎng)相類似的動(dòng)物呢？

▏Notes

1. sunburn 曬傷

2. okapi

3. relative 親屬；親戚related to 與……有關(guān)

4. striped 有條紋的、有斑紋的stripe. 條紋

5. neck 頸；脖子

6. savanna 熱帶；大草原

7. clay 黏土

8. burned 燒焦的

9. hide 隱藏；遮擋

10. blend 融合

11. accidentally 偶然地；意外地

12. trap 陷阱；圈套

13. population 人口

14. male 動(dòng)物公的；雄性的

15. antler 鹿角

16. bump 腫塊；隆起

17. threatened 受到威脅的；瀕危的

18. protect 保護(hù)

19. look-alike 極為相像的事物或人