Editing Giraffe (section)

==Human relations==
===Cultural significance===
With its lanky build and spotted coat, the giraffe has been a source of fascination throughout human history, and its image is widespread in culture. It has represented flexibility, far-sightedness, femininity, fragility, passivity, grace, beauty and the continent of Africa itself.<ref name=Williams/>{{rp|7, 116}}
[[File:Giraffe cave art.jpg|thumb|alt=Photograph of a giraffe painted on a rock face|[[San rock art]] in Namibia depicting a giraffe]]
Giraffes were depicted in art throughout the African continent,.<ref name=Williams>{{Cite book|author=Williams, E.|year=2011|title=Giraffe|publisher=[[Reaktion Books]]|isbn=978-1-86189-764-0}}</ref>{{rp|45–47}} The [[Kiffian culture|Kiffians]] were responsible for a life-size rock engraving of two giraffes, dated 8,000 years ago, that has been called the "world's largest rock art petroglyph".<ref name=Williams/>{{rp|45}}<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.bradshawfoundation.com/giraffe/|title=The Dabous Giraffe rock art petrograph|publisher=The [[Bradshaw Foundation]]|access-date=6 November 2011|archive-date=7 November 2011|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111107203318/http://www.bradshawfoundation.com/giraffe/|url-status=live}}</ref> Judging from evidence including incised clay pots, archaeologists now believe that, in the ancient [[Kingdom of Kush|Kushite]] societies located in [[Nubia]], or what is now northern Sudan, giraffes may have featured in popular religion and women's religion, though not in elite or royal religion, and may have also had a connection to beliefs about the sun.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Kilroe |first=Loretta |date=2023-12-18 |title=Giants of the Sands: The Giraffe and its Place in Symbolic Vocabulary in the Kingdom of Kush, Sudan |url=https://brill.com/view/journals/jaa/aop/article-10.1163-21915784-bja10032/article-10.1163-21915784-bja10032.xml |journal=Journal of African Archaeology |pages=1–20 |doi=10.1163/21915784-bja10032 |issn=1612-1651}}</ref> The [[Tugen people]] of modern Kenya used the giraffe to depict their god Mda.<ref>{{cite book|author=Shorrocks, B.|year=2016|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=747RDAAAQBAJ|title=The Giraffe: Biology, Ecology, Evolution and Behaviour|publisher=[[Wiley (publisher)|Wiley]]|page=3|isbn=9781118587478}}</ref> The [[Ancient Egypt|Egyptians]] gave the giraffe its own [[Egyptian hieroglyphs|hieroglyph]]; 'sr' in [[Old Egyptian language|Old Egyptian]] and 'mmy' in later periods.<ref name=Williams/>{{rp|49}} How the giraffe got its height has been the subject of various [[Culture of Africa#Folklore and religion|African folktales]].<ref name=sim1996/>

Giraffes have a presence in modern [[Western culture]]. [[Salvador Dalí]] depicted them with burning manes in some surrealist paintings. Dali considered the giraffe to be a masculine symbol. A flaming giraffe was meant to be a "masculine cosmic apocalyptic monster".<ref name=Williams/>{{rp|123}} Several children's books feature the giraffe, including David A. Ufer's ''The Giraffe Who Was Afraid of Heights'', [[Giles Andreae]]'s ''Giraffes Can't Dance'' and [[Roald Dahl]]'s ''[[The Giraffe and the Pelly and Me]]''. Giraffes have appeared in animated films as minor characters in [[Disney]]'s ''[[Dumbo]]'' and ''[[The Lion King]]'', and in more prominent roles in ''[[The Wild]]'' and the ''[[Madagascar (franchise)|Madagascar]]'' films. [[Sophie the Giraffe]] has been a popular [[teether]] since 1961. Another famous fictional giraffe is the Toys "R" Us mascot [[Toys "R" Us#Mascot|Geoffrey the Giraffe]].<ref name=Williams/>{{rp|127}}

The giraffe has also been used for some scientific experiments and discoveries. Scientists have used the properties of giraffe skin as a model for [[space suit|astronaut]] and [[flight suit|fighter pilot suits]] because the people in these professions are in danger of passing out if blood rushes to their legs.<ref name=anatomy/>{{rp|76}} Computer scientists have modeled the coat patterns of several subspecies using [[reaction–diffusion]] mechanisms.<ref>{{Cite book |author1=Walter, M. |author2=Fournier, A. |author3=Menevaux, D. |title=Proceedings of the 28th annual conference on Computer graphics and interactive techniques |chapter=Integrating shape and pattern in mammalian models |year=2001 |pages=[https://archive.org/details/siggraph2001conf00fium/page/317 317–26] |doi=10.1145/383259.383294 |chapter-url=https://archive.org/details/siggraph2001conf00fium/page/317 |isbn=978-1-58113-374-5 |citeseerx=10.1.1.10.7622 |s2cid=13488215 |access-date=16 November 2011 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150923224559/http://www.csun.edu/~renzo/GraphicsResources/Articles/walter.pdf |archive-date=23 September 2015 }}</ref> The [[constellation]] of [[Camelopardalis]], introduced in the 17th century, depicts a giraffe.<ref name=Williams/>{{rp|119–20}} The [[Tswana people]] of Botswana traditionally see the constellation [[Crux]] as two giraffes—[[Acrux]] and [[Beta Crucis|Mimosa]] forming a male, and [[Gacrux]] and [[Delta Crucis]] forming the female.<ref>{{cite journal|author=Clegg, A.|year=1986|title=Some Aspects of Tswana Cosmology|journal=Botswana Notes and Records|volume=18|pages=33–37|jstor=40979758 }}</ref>
[[File:Tribute Giraffe with Attendant.jpg|thumb|right|upright|alt=Photograph of a painting of a giraffe and a man holding its leash|Painting of a giraffe imported to China during the [[Ming dynasty]]]]

===Captivity===
The Egyptians were among the earliest people to keep giraffes in captivity and shipped them around the Mediterranean.<ref name=Williams/>{{rp|48–49}} The giraffe was among the many animals collected and [[Mosaic Fragment with Man Leading a Giraffe (Art Institute of Chicago)|displayed]] by the Romans. The first one in Rome was brought in by [[Julius Caesar]] in 46&nbsp;BC.<ref name=Williams/>{{rp|52}} With the [[fall of the Western Roman Empire]], the housing of giraffes in Europe declined.<ref name=Williams/>{{rp|54}} During the [[Middle Ages]], giraffes were known to Europeans through contact with the Arabs, who revered the giraffe for its peculiar appearance.<ref name="Prothero 2003">{{Cite book|author1=Prothero, D. R. |author2=Schoch, R. M. |year=2003|title=Horns, Tusks, and Flippers: The Evolution of Hoofed Mammals|publisher=[[Johns Hopkins University Press]]|pages=67–72|isbn=978-0-8018-7135-1}}</ref>

Individual captive giraffes were given celebrity status throughout history. In 1414, a giraffe from [[Malindi]] was [[Treasure voyages|taken to China]] by explorer [[Zheng He]] and placed in a [[Ming dynasty]] zoo. The animal was a source of fascination for the Chinese people, who associated it with the mythical [[Qilin]].<ref name=Williams/>{{rp|56}} The [[Medici giraffe]] was a giraffe presented to [[Lorenzo de' Medici]] in 1486. It caused a great stir on its arrival in [[Florence]].<ref>{{Cite journal|url=https://archive.org/download/ErikRingmaraudienceForAGiraffeEuropeanExceptionalismAndTheQuest_744/ErikRingmarAudienceForAGiraffe.pdf |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080910082557/http://www.archive.org/download/ErikRingmaraudienceForAGiraffeEuropeanExceptionalismAndTheQuest_744/ErikRingmarAudienceForAGiraffe.pdf |archive-date=10 September 2008 |url-status=live |title=Audience for a Giraffe: European Expansionism and the Quest for the Exotic|author= Ringmar, E.|journal= [[Journal of World History]]| year = 2006| volume = 17| issue = 4| pages = 353–97 |jstor = 20079397|doi=10.1353/jwh.2006.0060|s2cid=143808549}}</ref> [[Zarafa (giraffe)|Zarafa]], another famous giraffe, was brought from [[History of Egypt under the Muhammad Ali dynasty|Egypt]] to Paris in the early 19th century as a gift for [[Charles&nbsp;X of France]]. A sensation, the giraffe was the subject of numerous memorabilia or "giraffanalia".<ref name=Williams/>{{rp|81}}

Giraffes have become popular attractions in modern [[zoo]]s, though keeping them is difficult as they prefer large areas and need to eat large amounts of browse. Captive giraffes in North America and Europe appear to have a higher mortality rate than in the wild, the most common causes being poor husbandry, nutrition, and management.<ref name=Dagg2014/>{{rp|153}} Giraffes in zoos display [[Stereotypy (non-human)|stereotypical behaviours]], particularly the licking of inanimate objects and pacing.<ref name=Dagg2014/>{{rp|164}} Zookeepers may offer various activities to stimulate giraffes, including training them to take food from visitors.<ref name=Dagg2014/>{{rp|167, 176}} [[Stable]]s for giraffes are built particularly high to accommodate their height.<ref name=Dagg2014/>{{rp|183}}

===Exploitation===
Giraffes were probably common targets for hunters throughout Africa.<ref name="Kingdon1988" />{{rp|337}} Different parts of their bodies were used for different purposes.<ref name="Dagg1971" /> Their meat was used for food. The tail hairs were [[flyswatter]]s, bracelets, necklaces, and threads. Shields, sandals, and drums were made using the skin, and the strings of musical instruments were from the tendons.<ref name="Dagg1971" /><ref name="Kingdon1988" />{{rp|337}} In [[Buganda]], the smoke of burning giraffe skin was traditionally used to treat nosebleeds.<ref name="Kingdon1988" />{{rp|337}} The [[Humur|Humr]] people of [[Kordofan]] consume the drink Umm Nyolokh, which is prepared from the [[liver]] and [[bone marrow]] of giraffes. [[Richard Rudgley]] hypothesised that Umm Nyolokh might contain [[N,N-Dimethyltryptamine|DMT]].<ref>Rudgley, Richard ''The Encyclopedia of Psychoactive Substances'', pub. Abacus 1998 {{ISBN|0 349 11127 8}} pps. 20–21.</ref> The drink is said to cause hallucinations of giraffes, believed to be the giraffes' ghosts, by the [[Humr]].<ref>{{cite journal|author=Ian Cunnison|title= Giraffe hunting among the Humr tribe|journal=[[Sudan Notes and Records]]|volume=39|year=1958}}</ref>