The majority of individuals commemorating their 40 th wedding anniversary may prefer making the special day memorable by taking a fancy cruise or a beach holiday. However, nothing can beat the beauty of African bush,
at least according to South African couple Marius and Michelle Nortje. To them, the best anniversary vacation was returning to Kruger National Park, where they have paid a visit to so many times in their 30-year marriage.
This was however not an ordinary trip which they would picture in their minds. Not for the sight of grand, proud lions or the spectacle of the night sky burning up with color, as the sun goes down, but because of a very terrifying meeting indeed, which left Marius, a devoted animal photographer, in just temporary silence.
It occurred during what turned out to be an ordinary ride in the park. The couple had missed the main tar road in search of lions, when they saw some movement on the brush in front. Out came three giraffes all lithe and graceful as usual,–one of them not.
The third giraffe was no kind of giraffe they had ever seen.
Marius remembered these strange growths so prevalent on her body on an interview with The Citizen. We did not quite know what we were looking at. That was horrible, and still she was simply minding her own business, cheerfully grazing away, as though it were all serene.”
Marius was too fast, he took a picture of the unique spectacle. He later uploaded the photos to Facebook whereby shocked viewers all over the world flocked in with their reactions. A lot of people were fascinated and equally a lot of people were worried.
Her interlocutors just kept probing why she was not in pain, he added. To be honest we did not know. She was not crying at that point but lumps were so bad.”
In the hope of getting solutions and creating awareness, Marius mentioned SANParks, the department in charge of managing the national parks in South Africa, in his post. By the time of the interview he had not received an answer, but the photos had quickly drawn a reaction by WorldWide Vets, a reputable animal welfare group.
The founder and director of the organization called Dr. Gemna Campling provided a clinical explanation of a terrifying condition of the giraffe. She said the giraffe is sick with a rather unusual form of papillomavirus, possibly a cow form (BPV), which has even jumped to another species.
According to Dr. Campling, there are several varieties of papillomavirus with each usually infecting a particular host. In this instance we think the giraffe caught the bovine type which is not wholly unknown to happen.”
Who is the guilty one in the spreading of the virus? Probably the oxpecker birds which usually travel with giraffes and other big herbivores, are ticks and parasites-eating birds.
It is upon these birds which on the one hand are useful and at the same time some of them also transmit diseases due to the fact that they also carry pathogens that transfer diseases between animals, as Dr. Campling stated. In the case of this Giraffe, probably the outbreak of the virus was because of small abrasions on the skin from the pecking of birds.
The condition is normally not life-threatening even though the physical manifestations are worrying in the case of a giraffe.
Dr. Campling said, many animals with BPV can heal themselves. The accompanying reaction is that unfortunately there is nothing to be done to treat wildlife in this respect so it is best to observe and leave it to nature. Although this is not life-threatening, chances are that it causes discomfort when the growths are this big.
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There was a depressing sound in her words. The giraffe was not dying, but it was suffering and not silently because there was little to be done about it. But she still grazed on, in almost the silent resignation which so consistently characterizes wild animals.
The images were not merely cause of concern. They also delighted and awed people. Marius has tens of thousands of followers who left their comments to the post, admiring the strength of the giraffe and sending her in words of compassion. Others even hinted that the pictures were one great metaphor of survival against all odds.
To Marius and Michelle it was a bitter-sweet reminder of the wild world so longed after. Wonderful, beautiful, and, with certainty, agonizing at times world.
Marius added, We have to go to Kruger we feel alive there. And this trip made us realise that not everything in the wild is perfect. It is not what we have expected to be all the time. Nevertheless it is. And sometimes that is what makes it memorable.”
When they got out of the park, they remembered the picture of the giraffe, a quiet creature that was carrying her burden before life with dignity, and did not realize how much she had touched the hearts of two travelers, and later the whole world.
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