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Are giraffes more likely to be struck by lightning?

Updated: 10/25/2022
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Gianni Wilderman

Lvl 10
4y ago

Verified answer

According to a paper published in 2011 by one of the foremost experts on lightning safety, Chandima Gomes, "animals with a large separation between their front and back feet... are vulnerable to receive lightning injuries due to the dangerous potential differences that may built up between these feet, in the event of nearby lightning." The paper went on to say that taller animals like giraffes and elephants could be more susceptible to "side flashes," where lightning rebounds after striking a nearby tree.

Giraffes being long and tall, those two points seem to indicate that they’re more likely to be struck, but because the occurrence of lightning striking an animal is so rare, there is not enough numerical evidence to support the theory. According to Julian Fennessy, a Namibia-based conservationist and chair of the International Giraffe Working Group, "if you're in the wrong place at the wrong time you're susceptible—it's not that giraffes stand out like lightning rods."

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Daryl Collins

Lvl 10
4y ago
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Cecilia Capece

Lvl 3
4y ago

no Lightning Safety and Animals: Case Study In 2016, lightning struck and killed a massive group of reindeer. Over 300 wild animals died on the Hardangervidda mountain plateau after a lightning storm passed on Friday, August 26, 2016.

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Hello Kitty Berry

Lvl 3
4y ago

So do giraffes get struck by lightning at higher rates? Intuitively, the obvious answer is "yes." Standing between fourteen and nineteen feet tall when fully grown, giraffes tower above the savannah and open woodland landscapes where they dwell. Of course, lightning doesn't always strike the tallest object in an area, but taller objects are more susceptible due to the shorter gap between the object and the lightning's point of origin.

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José Sidenei de Melo

Lvl 3
4y ago

What causes something to be struck by a lightining bolt is the best path it can find to penetrate the earth, and this includes several factors. The height of a giraffe or elephant do not matter at all.

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M Planchon

Lvl 2
4y ago

Giraffes are not more likely to be struck, as god blessed the rains down in Africa.

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THEROCKISMYMAN

Lvl 2
4y ago

it could happen but it is not scienticficly proven so we really dont know

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Elizabeth Lee

Lvl 3
4y ago

yes and no at the same time it depends if they are laying down or standing up.

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puplover 125

Lvl 2
4y ago

Not necessarily. They have more of a chance than we do but lightning usually struck things which are tall but mainly metal things.

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Lucinda Schooley

Lvl 2
4y ago

can reach 19 feet tall, meaning giraffes tower over the savannah they live in. So do they get struck by lightning more than other, shorter animals?.. i feel bad for those animals

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Sonya Black

Lvl 2
4y ago

If they are in the open yes. So most likely yes because they they are taller then most trees where they live.

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