1 66 SAFARI 



"Next day we came back to see what had happened. 

 The giraffes were still there, but every one had had Us 

 tail cut off. That meant the natives had been in 

 after them for the miracle-working hair. Not one 

 animal was harmed." 



Whether they finally escaped is a question. I cer- 

 tainly hope they did. 



Indirectly man caused the death of a lot of giraffe 

 when the Uganda railway was first built. The 

 common giraffe, which is sometimes twenty- three 

 feet from the crown of its head to the sole of its hoof, 

 continued to wander about its preserve as its 

 ancestors had for coimtless ages. Naturally when a 

 hungry lion hopped into the midst of a herd of the tall 

 animals they fled in all directions. As a result the 

 railway engineers used to find a dead giraffe every 

 week or so lying near the track with a broken neck. 

 Running madly through the darkness the animals 

 had collided with the telegraph lines with fatal 

 results. For years an average of over 50 giraffe 

 a year committed suicide this way. 



It is practically impossible to tame a giraffe. I 

 know of one that was lassoed and died of fright before 

 it could be got into a cage. Half an hoiu- after 

 the rope was around its neck it collapsed. I once 

 saw a baby giraffe that belonged to a settler, but it 

 did not seem at all contented with its surroundings. 

 It was nervous, and anaemic and gave every sign of 



