I saw this on last night’s news and was enchanted. The giraffes at Chicago’s Brookfield Zoo are kept inside during cold weather, as they don’t have the right genes for winter, but there’s been a warm spell the past few days and so they were let out into their outdoor enclosure. (Giraffes are let out only when the temperature exceeds about 50° F [10° C ], and it was 70° F [21° C] on Tuesday!) This shows the antics of Potoka, a two-year old male reticulated giraffe (Giraffa camelopardalis reticulata), as he gains some freedom.
Who can say that this is not joy unbounded? It seems as if he’s trying to get his fellows to join the fun.
Now whether one should keep these large and magnificent creatures in captivity is another matter (this is an endangered subspecies). But I’m at least glad to see them bounding about.
That’s one happy giraffe!
What a wonderful video. Suddenly I see giraffes as long necked, long legged horses.
Recently I saw a wild life TV programme showing their long necks are used for fighting each other.(Not for reaching tasty leaves?) It was a quite a nasty thing to witness.
I have lost track on what the thinking is about this, but yes I recall the idea that it could at least in part be b/c of how the males fight. And the trait is present in both males and females.
It cannot be anything else but joy, recognizable to any vertebrate species. I love to see them so happy. Their awkward grace and enthusiasm is wonderful.
Unfortunately any joy at seeing that species frolicking around is tempered by the realization that they are able to reach 1/16th (?) of their possible frolicking speed by being enclosed in such a space and that for the adults it is even less. I just can’t get any pleasure from seeing animals confined to be observed by other animals. But, you mentioned that didn’t you.
Sub
For some reason, I didn’t really see how strange giraffes are until I saw them in the wild. What a bizarre mammal! (And the same realization was true for elephants.)
Yes, they need a bigger area but you cannot always have everything. Right now the zoo up here in Omaha, the Dallas zoo and the Wichita zoo are working on moving 18 elephants out of Africa. They may have arrived already or are in route. I know that the zoo in Omaha has been preparing an area for the elephants for a long time and they should have a good place for them.
Omaha is my hometown. We live in Dallas now but were totally spoiled by the quality of the Omaha Zoo. They really seemed to be pioneers in trying to recreate the most natural habitat possible. Except for the cat house- but I think that is soon to be improved too. Dallas and Fort Worth zoos are horrid and sad animal cages. We went to the Dallas Zoo one time and that was enough.
Magnificent with just the right amount of goofy tossed in…
Goofy is right…and those funny lttle soft horn things…
O ! … … darling !
I so needed something like this !
Right now !
Just received some bad news earlier this morning, and viewing Potoka / his joy ? That helps to temper and ameliorate m’brain !
(It is nothing that cannot be gone through, just a deal so unexpected is all.)
Blue
Girry’s joy is so infectious! It makes me feel like gambolling about too.
Awww, so sweet! One wants to say, “so human,” since we can empathize so well, but I guess it’s more like “so mammalian.”
When my d*gs do this, we call it “happy feet.” 🙂
Amazing Animals.
Sub