The Scientific Age

Scientific study of giraffes depended on the scientists of Europe being able to study specimens. The first of those specimens was sent to Europe not long after the establishment of a settlement at the Cape of Good Hope in South Africa in 1652. Obtaining the specimens was difficult because the nearest giraffes were to be found along the Gariep (Orange) River on the northern border of South Africa with Namibia, about 1,000 km from the Cape, across arid and inhospitable terrain. The first specimens were collected by Robert Jacob Gordon and William Paterson and were sent to Holland and England, respectively. Their arrival attracted zoologists and others to southern Africa, and further specimens became available for study. In the early 1800s establishment of zoos in Europe meant that living giraffes could be studied, and the first of these were taken to France and England. Among the prominent scientists who studied giraffes were Etienne Geoffroy St.-Hilaire in Paris and Richard Owen in London. Their studies established the scientific basis for the study of giraffes.