Giraffe pelvis, though relatively short, has an ilium that is outspread at the upper ends. A giraffe has only two gaits: walking and galloping. Walking is done by moving the legs on one side of the body at the same time, then doing the same on the other side. When galloping, the hind legs move around the front legs before the latter move forward, and the tail will curl up. The animal relies on the forward and backward motions of its head and neck to maintain balance and the counter momentum while galloping. The giraffe can reach a sprint speed of
Marius (giraffe) Marius (giraffe) Marius (6 February 2012 – 9 February 2014) was a young male giraffe living at Copenhagen Zoo. Though healthy, he was genetically unsuitable for future breeding, as his genes were overrepresented in the captive population, so it was decided by the zoo authorities to kill him. Despite several offers to adopt Marius, which went against zoo policy of selling to private owners, and an online petition to save him, he was killed on 9 February 2014. His body was then dissected and necropsied in a public educational class and he was then fed to the zoo's lions. The