Neck-and-neck race to flee angry giraffe
A GIRAFFE that recently frightened tourists in an Eastern Cape reserve has been said to be “hormonal”.
The animal chased a gameviewing vehicle “like a T-Rex in Jurassic Park”, according to a report in a British newspaper.
The giraffe has become a star on YouTube after Cape Town business consultant Henk Roos captured the chase on his cellphone. The clip has received 283 000 hits since going viral a month ago.
The UK’s Daily Mirror has posted the video on its site and news network CNN aired an insert about the bizarre chase.
Another US network, NBC, was expected to flight the clip shortly. “The Tonight
Show with Jay Leno is airing an insert next week. I can’t believe how crazy this week has been,” Roos said.
He declined to name the reserve. Roos and eight others, who had attended a wedding in the vicinity the previous day, encountered the male giraffe halfway through their game drive.
“We went up a hill and saw a male giraffe on the right of the vehicle. Just down the hill on the left was a female with a calf. The male giraffe turned and walked away, but the next moment it turned around again and started chasing us,” Roos said.
Game rangers told the party that the giraffe was “hormonal” and receiving treatment.
“Sometimes he just loses his cool. And that’s what seemed to happen,” said Roos.
The group initially laughed off the galloping giraffe, but they became alarmed when the animal began gaining ground on their vehicle.
“It chased us for at least three to four kilometres, running along this twisty road and between trees. I realised this was something I had to capture on film and took out my cellphone,” Roos said.
Roos only caught the last 50 seconds of the chase, but said it had lasted at least seven minutes before he started filming.
“After a while, when it wouldn’t stop chasing us, we started getting worried.
“The game ranger started hitting on the side of the vehicle and shouting, so we did the same thing. Then the giraffe got scared and just stopped,” he said.
Patrick Sibeko, a conservation manager at the Hluhluwe-iMfolozi Park in northern KwaZulu-Natal, said the incident was “unusual”.
“Wild animals are very unpredictable . . . but I’ve worked in big game reserves for more than 10 years and I’ve never seen or heard of something like this,” he said. “Giraffes are like zebra and wildebeest — they are sensitive to humans and if you get close they will run away.”
Sibeko said he had heard of such stories with other animals.
“If it was an elephant or rhino, then I would understand it. But for a giraffe to confront or chase a vehicle is very strange,” Sibeko said.