Gimli And Nigel, The First Giraffe Dwarves In The World, Will Steal Your Heart At First Glance
You may already know that giraffes are the tallest mammals on Earth, but did you know that no two giraffes have the same coat pattern, just like human fingerprints? Giraffes are fascinating animals, and speaking of which, researchers from the Giraffe Conservation Foundation (GCF) have spotted two wild dwarf giraffes in Africa.
Yes, you’ve read that right; it appears that dwarfism affects giraffes too. It sounds unbelievable, but the researchers from the GCF have indeed published a paper in BMC Research Notes, in which they described wild dwarf giraffes from two different populations.
These “little” fellas were discovered during one of the regular photographic surveys GCF conducts. One of them was spotted in Murchison Falls National Park, Uganda, and the other on a private farm in Central Namibia.
After measuring the limb dimensions of the two giraffes photographed that day, researchers found that these two had shorter legs compared to other specimens in the population. Shorter radius and metacarpal bones make them unique, but what is also interesting is that their necks are the same length.
The researchers themselves were surprised, as the lead author of the paper, Dr. Michael Brown, said in one of his interviews:
“When we first saw these giraffes, the initial reaction was a bit of curious disbelief. These unique giraffes strike a remarkable contrast to other giraffes in the herd. During these surveys in Uganda, we work closely with Uganda Wildlife Authority rangers, and I remember when we came across the dwarf giraffe, the ranger and I looked at each other to confirm that we were both seeing the same thing.”
If you are interested in seeing how they look, just scroll down and check out the photos. Meet Gimli and Nigel, the first known dwarf giraffes in the scientific literature.
Researchers from the Giraffe Conservation Foundation (GCF) stumbled upon dwarf giraffes during one of their photographic surveys, which they regularly conduct to determine population numbers, dynamics, and distribution across Africa.
Dwarf giraffes measure 8.5 to 9.3 feet high, while average giraffes are approximately 15 to 20 feet tall.
These two dwarf giraffes have names.
And Dr. Brown once explained the story behind that:
“To be honest, the giraffes aren’t really ours to name, but sometimes researchers give them nicknames to identify them as individuals and to better communicate them to other researchers. Gimli was indeed named in honor of the character from Tolkien’s Lord of the Rings trilogy (as an interesting aside, when researching dwarfism in other wild animals, we learned that a dwarf elephant documented in Sri Lanka was also given the name Gimli… an interesting case of convergent naming). Nigel is just a lovely name given by one of the local folks in Namibia… I admittedly do not know the origin of his name.”
Skeletal dysplasia (abnormal development of cells), also known as dwarfism, is quite rare among wild animals.
But these dwarf giraffes are not easy to spot.
As one of the research team members, Emma Wells, said:
“While the Namibian farmer had spotted Nigel regularly over the years, it was only after our observations that he realized that Nigel was not a juvenile but a fully grown male giraffe. It is mainly in comparison to other giraffes that his difference in stature becomes obvious.”
In this photo, you can see a normal giraffe (A) and the two dwarf ones (B and C).
Get to know dwarf giraffes better by watching the video.
These new findings have certainly opened a new chapter in the study of giraffes. A lot of effort must be put into the research because this is a whole new, unexplored field in science.
What is known so far is that dwarfism isn’t beneficial for giraffes. This makes them vulnerable because giraffes use their legs to defend themselves from predators.
What are your thoughts on this topic? Share your opinion in the comment section, and don’t forget to tell your friends about this magnificent new finding.
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