Two dwarf giraffes have been documented for the first time

Scientists from giraffe conservation foundation (GCF) has documented for the first time the existence of two dwarf giraffes In Uganda and Namibia, the organization, which works for the survival of these animals in 16 African countries, confirmed in a statement.

One of the dwarf giraffes, nicknamed Gimli By researchers in honor of the fictional characterLord of the RingsHe lives in Murchison Falls National Park in Uganda, and the other, Nigel, lives on a private farm in central Namibia.

Both, according to an article published on December 30 in the BMC Research Notes science forum, will suffer from some sort skeletal dysplasiaIt is a name that includes genetic disorders that affect the growth of bones and cartilage, especially the head, spine, arms and legs.

Portrait of “Gimli”. Photo: EFE/Michael Brown

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“Cases of wild animals affected by this type of skeletal dysplasia are extremely rare,” the study’s lead author, Michael Brown, a postdoctoral fellow at the Green Climate Fund and Smithsonian Institution for Biological Conservation, emphasized in a statement.

Using digital laser photogrammetry techniques, the researchers measured the limbs of the two dwarf giraffes: the length of the neck, upper and lower leg bones (radius and metatarsals), and ankles (phalanges).

Thus they discovered that a giraffe found in Uganda had shorter radial bones and metatarsal muscles, but a longer neck relative to a giraffe its age. While the Namibian giraffe had a shorter comb, radius and neck.

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