SANParks.org Forums

Likewise,

will be more alert, when next there. Interesting.
w

I'm reading "Wild Life in South Africa" written by James Stevenson-Hamilton in 1947 and he says the following:

"Dr Johnson's definition of the giraffe as "an Abyssinian animal, taller than the elephant, but not so thick", requires considerable amplification at the present day, when scientists have not only divided the genus into two distinct species Giraffa camelopardalis and Giraffa reticulata (the Somaliland form, but have classed the first of these into no less than ten sub-species or varieties, something after the manner adopted with the Burchell Zebra. The gradation of type is manifested in the changing nature of the blotches on the skin, which vary from an irregular network of light markings imposed on a chestnut field in the northern or typical race, to the deep chocolate patches on fawn-coloured background, characteristic of bulls of the Cape race"

I understand that a number of species of animals have been either introduced or re-inforced in numbers in the park. Might this have been the case with the Giraffe?

I dont think that there have been any giraffe reintroductions into Kruger during their history involving intervention of that sorts. Kruger admin will be able to verify this.

Whatever variation that is seen in Kruger itself is probably manifest in situ

wj.

As far as I can remember, I found the one with the more unusual pattern in the area round Olifants camp. So far I think we can settle on 'variety of G. camelopardalis', and a really funky one. Would be interested to know how often people come across one of those. Thanks for all your input!

Near Shingwedzi on the S50 in May, we came upon a giraffe with a strange looking deformity to its back leg.

It did not affect its mobility, despite the size, and appeared to be perfectly healed. The deformity reminded me more of the sort of growths you see on a tree rather than an animal. Does anyone have any idea of what might cause something like this?


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I too have seen a couple of giraffes with lumps on the side of their shoulders as so so speak.

Wonder if this could be related to a potential confrontation with a predator .. or maybe a leg fracture that didn't heal properly ...

I don't even want to go there, but the lumps on the Lions with TB also looked big ... can't remember however that they mentioned TB in Giraffes and presuming this was taken in the north that the Giraffes will have it there ?

True ... in Kudu's more predominantly ... but as I said I don't remember them saying Giraffes had TB ...

I assume the animal was an old specimen. I've seen this before a few times. On investigation with our wildlife expert and vet, I discovered that a giraffe's diet comprises young shoots at the tips of branches, and so, as a matter of logistics, chew the branch, twigs and thorns upon which the young shoots are fastened. This results in the wearing away of their molars. The giraffe who survives predator attacks and bullets, to make it to old age, usually dies as a result of being badly out of condition due to severe ulcerations in the mouth, caused by broken and eroded tooth stumps that are no longer able to crush the foods to the point where the stomach can extract the goodness. Ultimately, death will come fairly quickly in the form of a combination of starvation, inability to swallow due to ulceration of the teeth, gums, throat and jaw, parasitic attacks (internal and external), general debilitation and weakness which robs them of the strength to get themselves up after a fall, mudbath or wallow, cancerous tumours, injuries that will not heal, internal organ failure and generalised infections and inflammations. Yes, lymph glands might be affected too. There are various lymph glands scattered all around the body, as is the case in all mammals.

Krokodile, your giraffe's injury looks like an old infected wound that is still festering, probably caused by a predator's tooth or claw, judging from it's position on the back of the left leg. Notice the three parallel claw marks on the outside of the right leg just below the knee in the bottom picture, which is typical of a lion attack (you might have to save the pic to your C: drive and enlarge it to see this). Due to the obvious lengthy duration of the infection indicated by the necrotic tissue around the wound, the chances of such an injury healing itself now are remote, and the animal will most likely succumb as the infection travels around in the blood.

Agree with old wound, don't agree with infection, at least not any more. It looks all pretty dry, there's no swelling in the tissue surrounding the wound and, as Krokodile said, no impairment of function. Looks more like what is called 'wild flesh', which occurs often round untreated wounds in a body region where there's a lot of movement (and a joint surely is such a region). So the infection may already have disappeared or may be encapsulated quite safely. Not pretty, but not necessarily an immediate reason to drop dead.

Thanks for your opinions. I'll also go along with the old injury but not infected anymore. If it was, I'm sure we would have observed a limp or something, but the giraffe moved just like any other healthy giraffe!

What looked so odd was that the skin seemed to go under as well as around the growth. Incidentally, it was not a very big giraffe - not sure it was even full grown.

The leg is pretty badly swollen around and above the 'growth' - surely that is normally a sign of serious infection?
The giraffe may not 'limp' if you think about the slow and sedentary way that they move normally - but what if it was startled???
I don't actually think it is a growth myself, I believe that it is the result of a serious injury and is a 'swelling'
It would be interesting to find out the truth of this though!

Hi Guys

Interesting! I came accross a giraffe whose head and neck was covered in 'lumps'! could someone shed some light on what this could be please?

This is my first attempt at posting pictures on a thread, so if it does not work you can see the pics on: www.flickr.com/photos/floydy - so here goes, let's give this a bash!

Krokodile - I posted your pics on the Wildlifecampus Yahoo group and got this reply from one member:

Cheers for that, Tabs

I'm not convinced. I'm no vet, but it looks like a strange part of the body to have a cancerous growth. I personally think that it's more likely to be a badly healed injury, but would love to hear the opinion of a vet.

The other pictures look like a bad case of warts! Maybe some kind of blood-borne parasite?