Images of a giraffe struck by lightning have emerged on the internet. The much more perplexing aspect of the case, meanwhile, is that natural predators, including vultures and hyenas, declined to approach the corpse animal for the last several days following the incident.
Footage of the giraffe was shared in a Facebook post by South African AnneMarie Scheepers, who speculated that this could have been caused by poison being ejected from the animal following the thunderbolt hit.
"The lightning was strong that night and so it poured wonderfully in the Skukuza region; the next morning we drove and stumbled across the dead giraffe however there was no evidence of carnivores devouring or intending to come in and eat," Scheepers stated on the post.
Inadequate Study of the Poison Excretion Theory
When something refers to animals and predators seeking prey in the big outdoors, it seems that this is a "sure bet." Nevertheless, in this unusual situation, predators avoided the dead giraffe for at least a few days. Although it had passed due to a lightning strike, it was an accessible meal, as per Outdoor reports.
Scheepers also remarked, "I was talking with some other vacationers this night after dinner at camp and noticed that when a beam hits a living creature, a poison is leached that takes about two days to be freed from the rotting corpse." "Shortly afterward, the carnivores began eating. Innumerable vultures grouped in the air and hit the carcass like jet planes. Hyenas but also vultures all chowed down around each other."
Lightning is known as the outpouring of electrical current from the heavens into the earth. An individual or an animal may occasionally come in the path, and the thunderbolt will travel through one's body on its journey to the earth.
Lightning impacts kill people around 10% to 30% of the time, usually resulting in cardiac failure, while survivors experience long-term disabilities such as burns, hearing loss, and mechanical trauma. As per National Geographic, lightning kills around 2,000 individuals worldwide each year.
Giraffes Standing on Grass Field Surrounded by Plants. A giraffe struck by lightning is avoided by predators instead of devouring due to some poison excretion.
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Constant Threat of Unforeseen Strike
Lightning may also slaughter animals, sometimes even in large numbers: in 2016, lightning killed a complete herd of 323 reindeer.
Giraffes, as the heaviest beasts, are especially vulnerable to lightning strikes, with several stories of giraffes getting injured in wildlife parks or zoos across the globe.
"Lightning hits can cause a multisystemic malfunction in the creature, and in most instances, lightning impacts that lead to death would be caused by primary cardiac arrest," said Adam W. Stern, a professor of Forensic Pathology at the University of Florida's College of Veterinary Medicine, as he told Newsweek.
"Concerning rapid death, one can detect single lines on the skin, fractures, and significant muscular injuries. We are not sure whether this species was investigated, but in particular situations, creatures being struck by lightning would have fed in their mouth, which might give support for an instant death of the animal." On the other hand, Stern indicated that he hadn't heard of the toxic outgassing mentioned by Scheepers in her posting.
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