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A Giraffe (Giraffa) is considered the tallest living terrestrial mammal in the world. On average, these magnificent beasts towers over all the other animals at an astonishing 18 feet in height. But recently, local wildlife scientists discovered two that are smaller than the usual size.
(Giraffe: Photo by Howling Red)
In Africa, scientists researching animal conservation organizations stumbled upon an Angolan (Gimil) and a Nubian (Nigel) Giraffe.
GCF researchers recently spotted two dwarf giraffe in Namibia and Uganda. These adult male giraffe are the first dwarf. Posted by Giraffe Conservation Foundation on Saturday, January 2, 2021
What made this a unique experience is that the Giraffes they found had less than half the average Giraffe s height. The latter measured to reach nine feet (9 ft), four inches (4 in), while the former was just eight and a half feet (8 and 1/2 ft).
The second giraffe to be discovered with a similar condition was even shorter, at just 8½ feet. Called Nigel, the Angolan giraffe was discovered in 2018, on a private farm in Namibia.
This is the first time dwarfism has been observed in giraffes. And while the animals have survived into adulthood, a study published recently by the BMC Research Notes journal says that limited mobility caused by shorter leg dimension might make these giraffe more susceptible to predation, even in the subadult/adult life stages. Anecdotal video evidence of giraffe movement in Namibia suggest that this giraffe experience difficulty in movement, with a limping gait, the study continues of the condition, whose cause is unknown as of yet.
He may be smaller than his relatives but Gimli is confounding scientists and stealing hearts.
Your average giraffe stands at around 16 feet tall, making them the tallest mammals on Earth.
Michael Brown is a conservation science fellow with the Giraffe Conservation Foundation and the Smithsonian Conservation Biology Institute. He and his colleagues couldn t believe their eyes when they found a Nubian giraffe in Uganda’s Murchison Falls National Park in 2015 that was just 9 feet, 4 inches tall.
“The initial reaction was disbelief,” Dr. Brown said.
(Pic: Michael Brown)
Gimli the giraffe has the usual long neck, but his legs aren t. The scientists said it looked like someone had put a giraffe’s head and neck on a horse’s body.
Gimil and Nigel are two giraffes living in Africa that were born with dwarfism or skeletal dysplasia. The condition hindered their growth to no more than nine feet tall - the average giraffe is 18 feet tall.