Posted on 10/17/2004 7:45:48 PM PDT by yankeedame
Women killed by giraffe
By Gavin du Venage October 13, 2004
Giraffes... not to be messed with
NOBODY expects to be terminated by a giraffe.
Tourists in South Africa have been eaten by lions, leopards and crocodiles, trampled by elephants and buffalo, gored by rhinos and crushed by hippos.
This happens so often that wildlife officials sometimes refer to local reserves as Jurassic Park.
But there was a first in the "when animals attack" genre last week when two women on a slow drive in the north-west corner of the Kruger National Park, a wilderness as large as Belgium, fell victim to a giraffe.
"It was a freak accident - it's the talk of the industry," said Tammy McLintock, owner of the Akeru safari lodge where the women were staying.
The two companions were watching lions stalking when they heard a stampede behind them. A lioness was chasing three giraffes.
The women turned on the headlights but one of the giraffes, weighing about 500kg, ran head-on into the vehicle. Both women were severely injured and had to be airlifted by helicopter to hospital, where they both died.
Yet the only thing unusual about the incident was that it involved a creature that does not usually injure humans.
There are at least 9000 private game ranches in South Africa, covering 50 million hectares, and the competition for tourist dollars is fierce.
With the pressure on to provide tourists with up-close encounters with African game, humans are often coming off second best when a wild creature acts, well, wild.
A day before the giraffe accident, a man in the northern Hluhluwe section of the Umfolozi game park in KwaZulu-Natal was badly gored by a black rhino.
"We are going from eco-tourism to adventure tourism with animals, and this is a very dangerous arena," said Wouter van Hoven of the Centre for Wildlife at the University of Pretoria.
"There are more and more farmers converting from cattle ranching to safari operations and the pressure is on to provide an exciting experience."
The Australian
Bummer
jest darn
Be careful.
It's a jungle out there.
Your handle is too close to the topic
So what happened to the Giraffe?
killer giraffes.
"So what happened to the Giraffe?"
It was "spotted" heading north at a high rate of speed.
I love giraffes!!
"careful out there amongst the english"
Probably similar to the typical moose accident. Car hits moose, moose gets knocked off rather tall, stilt-like legs, moose torso then crashes through the front windshield, killing or badly injuring front-seat passengers.
And yes, to all the smart-alecks who are licking their chops, a møøse once bit MY sister, so THERE! That one has been pre-empted. ;-)
I do know a woman who was nearly killed when she hit a horse with her chevette.
oh pal that hurts my heart to see....wish you didnt post that one...I had to cry...
Yeah, I would expect that would be a similar thing. Though as far as that goes, I wouldn't want to hit a big dog in a Chevette, let alone a horse.
I assume a hog would be a bad thing to hit. Low center of gravity.
I wouldn't think to - at least then, you'd have all the mass down low, where the block would help absorb it. I think it's tall large creatures gettind knocked over, such that they land directly into the windshield / passenger compartment, that are more injurious/deadly.
Has Kerry blamed Bush's foreign policy for this yet?
Being treated for a sore neck.
The only thing worse would be a millipede with sore feet.
They say a lot of traffic accidents are caused by inattentive "rubberneckers."
"Being treated for a sore neck"
Whiplash perhaps? Quick, someone call that ambulance chaser Edwards!!
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