2023-06-30 00:00:00
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TO LISTEN. The King of France Charles X dreamed of seeing a giraffe. The viceroy of Egypt sends him a giraffe which survives the crossing and the long march.
Frederic Lewino and Gwendoline Dos Santos
Published on 06/30/2019 at 00:00 – Modified on 06/30/2023 at 00:00
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880 kilometers on foot, it wears out, it wears out… 880 kilometers on foot, it wears out your hooves! Finally, there she is, the long-necked Egyptian. On June 30, 1827, she landed in the French capital to the delight of Charles X, whining for months to be brought back to him from Marseilles, where she spent the winter. It was on the arm of the famous naturalist Étienne Geoffroy Saint-Hilaire that Zarafa crossed France, on foot, to stay at the Jardin des Plantes.
Before its landing, the giraffe is for all the French a mythological animal. Hardly do we know that its size can peak at five meters high with a weight of one ton. Naturalists have given it the curious name of Giraffa cameleopardis, believing that it resulted from the cross between a camel and a leopard. It’s Bernardino Drove…
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