"3-horned" giraffe

When we were in the process of transfering a pair of subadult giraffes from Melaka Zoo to Taiping Zoo, I happen to notice this peculiar look on this particular male. It sort of have a horn-like structure on its forehead. Perhaps I was not paying attention all these while. Apparently his sire has this horn-like structure too. Come in quite handy when he goes into a butting battle, "ouch" to the opponent!

However, not all giraffes have this "extra" horn, obviously his partner has a smooth curvy forehead. Both of them looked so adorable  in the picture. Not so in real life, just too big to be cute and cuddly. Plus, the stress of putting them in the crate, seeing the crates being lifted up by the crane 20 feet of the ground, fearing that the cable may snap under pressure and crate and giraffe crashing down....Well, none of that happen, both were successfully and safely translocated.

Animals were transfer during the night as this would eliminate the risk of animals being exposed to extreme heat en route to their new home. This especially critical for hoofed animals, they are much more easily stressed and succumb to hyperthermia (heat stress). Even if the vehicle has a covered roof, there is always a risk of vehicle being stuck in traffic, and high environmental temperature could not be dissipated as when vehicle is not moving, air remains stagnant and heat tends to build up rather quickly. Especially, if the animals is placed within a completely covered transport, with just a few aeration holes at the side. Animals have to be transported in an enclosed crate as most animals will remain calm when their vision of the "outside world" is impaired. In which case, preventing violent struggle by the animals to escape from the crate, causing possible fatal injuries. Thus, animal translocation programmes are always planned carefully, so as translocation happens either at night or early morning, whether it is the beginning, middle or the end of the journey.