While on a wildlife tour in South Africa, a photographer captured a giraffe with a “very twisted” neck, calling it a “bizarre” spotting.
Travel blogger Lynn Scott captured the image and shared it on Facebook on July 5 with the caption, “The most bizarre animal encounter I ever witnessed.” Scott was on a tour at Kruger National Park, where she had previously worked, when she spotted the giraffe with a rare deformity, according to Live Science.
“It was standing still at the time,” Scott told the outlet. She reportedly added that the creature showed “very little movement.”
Severely injured giraffe with ‘very twisted’ zigzag neck spotted in South Africa https://t.co/iPM68YVeYG
— Live Science (@LiveScience) July 23, 2024
Scott told Live Science the ranger at the head of the tour was “not too concerned” about the animal’s apparent lack of mobility. (RELATED: Father-Son Duo Reel In Shark With Odd Feature. Wildlife Expert Reveals Explanation Behind Apparent Deformity)
Scott reportedly did not disclose the exact location or the date she spotted the animal in order to protect the giraffe from potential poachers.
“It is definitely a very twisted neck,” Giraffe Conservation Foundation veterinarian and conservation health coordinator Sara Ferguson told the outlet.
She told the outlet that “without radiographs to prove the bone has been broken, we would refer to the giraffe as having severe torticollis.”
Torticollis is a condition that involves “a twisting of the neck that causes the head to rotate and tilt at an odd angle,” according to John Hopkins Medicine. While the exact cause of the condition is unknown, it can impact both humans and animals.
The condition can occur at birth or be acquired later in life due to numerous possibilities such as herniated discs, sleeping in odd positions and infections, John Hopkins notes.
Commenters on the Facebook post wondered if the giraffe had broken its neck, possibly while fighting with a fellow giraffe.
Giraffes breaking their necks while fighting is not unheard of, according to a 2015 report from the Daily Mail. A male giraffe had reportedly survived for at least five years in the wild with a broken neck after apparently fighting a fellow giraffe over a potential female mate.
Scott did not immediately respond to the Daily Caller’s request for comment.
