Mini Giraffes Spotted In Africa For The First Time Ever

Two dwarf giraffes in separate populations in Uganda and Namibia have been photographed in the wild by researchers

by GrrlScientist for Forbes | Twitter | Newsletter

Male dwarf giraffe, Nigel (right), and a normal-sized adult male giraffe (left) in Namibia. March 2018. (Credit: Emma Wells, Giraffe Conservation Foundation)

Two dwarf giraffes have recently been found in Africa as the result of standard photographic surveys used by researchers to track the animals’ population dynamics. One dwarf giraffe was found in Murchison Falls National Park in Uganda, and the other was found on a private farm in central Namibia. This is the first time that dwarf giraffes have ever been spotted in the wild.

Both giraffes appear to be affected by skeletal dysplasia, a rare collection of genetic disorders that cause dwarfism and other developmental disorders. Skeletal dysplasias affect the development and growth of cartilage, bones and joints, causing abnormally shaped bones, especially in the head, spine and long bones of the arms and legs.

“Instances of wild animals with these types of skeletal dysplasias are extraordinarily rare”, said lead author of the study, conservation biologist Michael Brown, a joint postdoctoral fellow with the Giraffe Conservation Foundation and the Smithsonian Conservation Biology Institute. Dr Brown has studied interactions between the population ecology and spatial ecology in giraffes and in Grevy’s zebras for a…