A woman decided to join the giraffes in their zoo enclosure for fun, and it didn’t go quite as she planned. One of the giraffes kicked the woman in the face after she climbed over a zoo fence that was off-limits. Newser reports that Amanda Hall, 24, from San Luis Obispo, California, was visiting Henry Vilas Zoo around 5:30 pm Saturday in Madison, Wisconsin. She opted to climb over a fence at the giraffe enclosure and attempted a second fence.
When the woman fell into the giraffe’s containment area, she was licked by a 2-year-old, 12-foot-tall giraffe named Wally. He then turned and kicked her in the face.
Kicks from giraffes are known to be so powerful that they can kill lions. Luckily, Hall didn’t suffer any real injuries and was cited for harassing zoo animals with a fine of $686.
Liberty Voice adds that friends of Hall say what she did was a serious lack of judgement. It seems that she’s a big giraffe fan and thought going into the exhibit to get a closer look was a good idea. What wound up happening was the woman got kicked by the giraffe.
As the World Wildlife Society points out, “giraffes can be exceedingly dangerous when they sense a threat. For example, when attacked by a lion giraffes have the power in their over six-foot long legs to ‘shatter the lion’s skull or break its spine with a single deft kick.’ In addition, male giraffes actually battle one another by ‘sparring with their necks and heads.’
“It has been documented that some of these battles are violent enough to continue until only one giraffe is left standing.”
Animals at zoos aren’t able to “amble” and cover broad space at zoos. Wally might have viewed her sudden presence in his territory was a threat. Unless giraffes feel threatened or are protecting their young, they aren’t violent animals.
This incident seems a little ridiculous to some degree, but it could have been so much worse for Amanda Hall. The fact that kicks from a giraffe’s foot is 12-inches across, it’s amazing not more damage was done. There have been some terrible stories about zoo visitors violating strict rules with abandon only to find themselves badly injured or dead in the worst case scenario.
The Inquisitr has other stories about people getting inside animal enclosures at zoos . A boy’s hand was torn off by a tiger when he was encouraged to inch closer to the animal’s fence. He was feeding the large cat some food when suddenly it bit off his entire hand.
[Image via Amazing Animals World ]