A Wonky-Necked Giraffe In California Lived To 21 Against The Odds

The giraffe with the wonky neck sounds like a whimsical children’s book, but the story of Gemina is very much the real deal. 

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On July 16, 1986, a giraffe was born at the San Diego Wild Animal Park. By age 1, she had traveled across the state to the Santa Barbara Zoo, where she would spend most of her life. Her name was Gemina, a Baringo giraffe native to the Kenyan Rift Valley, and she grew up to become one of the most famous giraffes in the world. 

Gemina's famously “crooked” neck only became noticeable to the zoo and its visitors when she was around age 3. As the years passed, the bend in her neck became more and more pronounced. She was treated with several X-rays and an in-depth examination throughout her life, but veterinarians were never able to identify a cause of the condition.

Growing to a height of 3.6 meters (12 feet), Gemina lived a normal life in the zoo, despite her disability. In 1991, she gave birth, but her calf died of pneumonia.

Her unusual, distinctive appearance quickly made her a local star. She starred in several news features on national and local television appearances, including one where she was the inspiration for a young boy with severe scoliosis. In a 2006 article by the Santa Barbara News-Press, Gemina was the only non-human in a list of best-known figures from the area, alongside the likes of Nobel laureates, John Cleese, Oprah Winfrey, and Brad Pitt.

She passed away in January 2008, just after reaching 21 years of age, which is pretty good going for a captive giraffe. 

“Though a few giraffes in captivity have been known to live into their late-twenties, reaching age 21 is considered an achievement,” Rich Block, CEO & Director of the zoo, said in an announcement at the time. “She was a great animal ambassador, showing that differences can be accepted and even celebrated. She will be missed.” 

Other giraffes have been known to suffer from the same ailment, although it is exceptionally rare. Around the time of Gemina’s death, many reported that it was the first case of a giraffe with a zig-zagging neck since 1902.

However, last year, a wonky-necked giraffe was spotted on a private game reserve in South Africa, close to the border of Zimbabwe. Onlookers were unable to tell whether it was caused by a genetic condition or had been broken, perhaps in a neck-slinging fight with another giraffe.

This is what happened in 2015 when another giraffe was spotted in Tanzania with a similar appearance. It's known this individual injured its neck in a fight with another giraffe, yet managed to survive for at least five years after the incident.

Elsewhere in the natural world, other long-spined animals have been observed with skewed backs. In 2023, scientists reported an enormous fin whale off the coast of Spain with a spinal malformation that caused its spine to zig-zag dramatically. Last year, a similar case was documented in a whale shark in the Gulf of Mexico.

None of these characters, however, were quite as famed or beloved as Gemina.