The majority of people who celebrate their 40th anniversary will choose a cruise or a beach vacation but nothing can be better to celebrate it than a trip into the wild among South African couple Marius and Michelle Nortje.
There was already forty years of love and now the story was going to have a memorable twist in the heart of Kruger National Park.
It was just a normal drive when the couple turned it into something they would never forget, or the internet, as well.
Marius told The Citizen, in an interview, that they do it at least once annually, sometimes even up to four times a year.
However, on the occasion of their anniversary trip last in December, something extraordinary came out of the bush -three giraffes. And one of them was quite different to what Marius, a professional wildlife photographer had ever seen.
We were not able to see [the lions] on the tar road and went turning on a gravel road when we saw one and then two giraffes peep out of the bushes. So when the third of the herd came into sight, they saw queer growths all over her body, he said.
Marius snapped the photo in a hurry and he later posted them on Facebook where they soon raised eyebrows as much as they raised concern.
People asked the question whether she was suffering or not, he said. But she was over the pasture eating calmly, and it did not appear to displease her as it would seem to be painful.
He also added the South African National Parks (SANParks) to his post to draw attention and until the time of interview, had not got any response.
An unusual disorder
Even more, the photos of the giraffe were taken up by WorldWide Vets an international animal welfare organization. Dr. Gemna Campling, the founder and director of the organization narrates that the giraffes are infected with a condition that is caused by papillomavirus.
Papillomavirus is of many varieties each having different species and attacking those species. But this giraffe is expected to be attacked by the cow variation (Bovine Papillomavirus or BPV), as Dr. Campling explained.
She told that the infection spreads due to direct contact so that in this case it is probably with the help of oxpecker birds.
In this case, an assumption is made that oxpecker birds, which settle on giraffe and peck at their inherent parasites, transmit the disease between the two animals. In the instance, the entire herd is healthy except a single animal like in the previous scenario when this disease was observed earlier.
The appearance of the disease might seem outrageous but it is not fatal.
Dr. Campling said, many BPV cases are self-limiting and can be healed up with the animal healing completely. This disease has no cure among giraffes and the wildlife veterinarians keep a close watch on the condition. Fortunately, the version is unable to be transmitted to individuals, though the Human Papilloma Virus exists in humans.”
Gemma Camping however says: “It is not a life threatening disease but admittedly causes discomfort when the lumps are as advanced as this.”
We cannot tell the magnitude of pain that the giraffe was subjected to but to shed a tear that she has to live with this is painful. Nevertheless, she was being grazed peacefully regardless of the lumps that could be seen on the body. Nevertheless, the pictures moved the hearts of many people on the internet, which led to an avalanche of sympathy, amazement, and interest in thousands of users.
View this post on Instagram
To Marius and Michelle, it was the indication of a stronghold as to why they feel the need to come back to the wild.
The most memorable moments occur at such times when you are not searching them. And once in a while, you need the perspective of a single nature enthusiast to make the rest of the world think about how strong and at the same time how weak wildlife are.