While giraffes are known for their staggering height, it seems not all giraffes are so. Scientists recently discovered two dwarf giraffes on different sides of Africa. They published their findings in the British Medical Journal last month. In both cases, the giraffes had the long necks but short in height due to their stumpy legs. Reportedly, the medical name for the condition is skeletal dysplasia which affects humans and domesticated animals, but rare in wild animals. The few known examples of animals with this condition in wild animals include a male Asian elephant in Sri Lanka and one red deer in Scotland. Giraffes Endangered! World's Tallest Animal Subspecies Nubian & Kordofan Giraffes Now in 'Critically Endangered' List.

Julian Fennessy, the co-founder of the Giraffe Conservation Foundation, told Reuters in a video call on Friday, "It's fascinating what our researchers out in the field found. We were very surprised." Most giraffes grow to 4.5-6 meters, but in 2018, scientists had discovered a 2.6-meter tall giraffe in Namibia. Three years earlier, they had also found a 2.8-meter-tall giraffe in a Ugandan wildlife park. Video of the giraffe taken by the foundation shows the animal with short muscled legs standing in the dry savanna of Murchison Falls national park in northern Uganda. Baby Okapi, Endangered Forest Giraffe Born at ZSL London Zoo Takes His First Steps Minutes After the Birth, Know More About the Animal.

Adorable Dwarf Giraffe Found in Namibia and Uganda:

Fennessy further said, "Unfortunately, there's probably no benefit at all. Giraffes have grown taller to reach the taller trees. It's because of mostly habitat loss, habitat fragmentation, growing human populations, more land being cultivated." The numbers of the world's tallest mammal have reduced by some 40% over the past 30 years to around 111,000, due to which the species are classified by conservationists as "vulnerable." Fortunately, conservation efforts have helped the number of animals increase in the past decade.

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Jan 09, 2021 07:40 PM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).