Wednesday, 12 May 2010

"South African woman killed by giraffe kick"

JuliaM alerts me to a nice giraffe attack story:

South Africa's press agency says a giraffe has kicked a woman to death at a game farm in northeastern South Africa.

The South African Press Agency said Wednesday that the woman took a walk with her two dogs on the game farm in Limpopo province Saturday morning. The agency, citing South Africa's Beeld newspaper, says one of the dogs ran towards a herd of giraffe, scaring them. The newspaper says the 25-year-old woman tried to protect the dog, prompting a giraffe to kick her in the neck, killing her.

Giraffes are found in South Africa's Kruger National Park, which covers part of Limpopo province. Although giraffes subsist on leaves and do not hunt, they are capable of delivering crushing blows with their powerful legs when threatened.


Dogs and ruminants* = a potent mixture.

UPDATE: according to The Daily Mail, the giraffe concerned was trying to protect its calf, which is the same as in most cow attack stories.

* OK, giraffes aren't ruminants, but like cows, they are vegetarian, and have endearing big brown eyes and skinny/knobbly legs.

5 comments:

Chuckles said...

Mark, they may indeed be vegetarian, have large wet brown eyes, gorgeous eyelashes, and spindly legs.
They are also up to 18 feet tall, and VERY protective of their young, and the 'spindly' legs are spindly in relation to 18 feet tall. If you annoy one, watch out.

The lions here tend to agree -
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FxpKwl1jOug&feature=related

Mark Wadsworth said...

C, oh G-d, I forgot to mention the eyelashes! Add that to the list of "reasons why we love giraffes".

Nice vid :-)

James Higham said...

they are capable of delivering crushing blows with their powerful legs when threatened

Not unlike kangaroos.

BTS said...

This is sounding more and more like a discussion about an ex of mine.

Except the kangaroo bit.

Okay, maybe not..

Chuckles said...

With cows and giraffe the trifecta is definitely in play, so time to 'branch out' a bit.
This one has the definite 'You do so much for them, and then they turn on you, just like that' feel to it -

http://www.google.com/hostednews/ukpress/article/ALeqM5hyoEQLTVLnoYtNZvv9BxHa2cAlIw