Grasslands
Grasslands cover an enormous amount of territory and are known by different names in different parts of the world, including pampas in South America and savannas in Africa. What’s similar about these inland biomes is that they are dominated by large, open grassy fields, and they are generally warm and dry.

Each has at least one intriguingly odd-looking resident, the Patagonian cavy (Dolechotis patagonum) in Argentina and the giraffe (Giraffa camelopardalis) in sub-Saharan Africa.

“To me, cavies look like a cross between a rabbit and a miniature antelope,” says Dan Boehm, area supervisor at the Regenstein Small Mammal-Reptile House, where a male and a female cavy live in a sandy, rocky exhibit typical of their native habitat.

Cavies have long ears and long slender legs, and on the open grasslands of Patagonia in southern Argentina they’re capable of reaching speeds in excess of 35 miles per hour.

They are actually members of the rodent family whose closest relative is the guinea pig. They make their nests in burrows, sometimes stealing them from other animals. Their hind feet have three toes, each with a large hooflike claw. Their front feet have four toes with sharp claws for digging. They form lifelong pair bonds but are usually found in groups with as many as three dozen pairs.

Although the species is not listed as threatened, the number of cavies is declining, due mainly to competition from the European hare, which has been introduced to Argentina. Hares compete for the same food as cavies and reproduce at a much faster rate. At the zoo they are fed a diet of grasses, fruits and vegetables.

Giraffes too are notable for their unusual appearance. After all, what other animal has a neck that stretches two stories high, a pink-and-black tongue 18 inches long that can strip leaves from the thorniest acacia branches and be used to keep eyes and ears clean, and knobs on the tops of their heads that look like horns but are called ossicones?

Various subspecies of giraffes are found on the savannas of several countries south of the Sahara, including Kenya. In the wild they will drink up to 12 gallons of water at a time every two or three days, but they can go weeks without drinking. While giraffes may lie down for seven to nine hours a day, they sleep for only about 20 minutes.

In general, giraffes are common in Africa, though they have been driven to extinction in some countries due to hunting and loss of habitat. Lions, hyenas and leopards are the chief predators of giraffe calves. Mature giraffes use their keen senses of sight, hearing and smell to stay out of harm’s way.

You can see giraffes at Regenstein African Journey. The pair of longnecks live in a diverse mixed-species exhibit, sharing the zoo’s savanna with ostriches, Grant’s gazelles and Egyptian geese.

“There’s a pecking order,” says Lead Keeper Brett Smith. “The giraffes are definitely in charge. They go wherever they want to go. Then come the ostrich, gazelle and the geese, although the geese like to think they’re bigger and tougher than they are.

“We were a little skeptical at first about having all four species in the same exhibit, but it’s going better than we thought it would. We haven’t had any aggressive incidents. But then, these animals do share savanna habitats in the wild.”