Q: Is it adorable?
A: Yes.
Q: Does the giraffe actually understand something about the health of the zoo worker?
A: Maaaaaybe, but probably not. As this isn't a controlled experiment, we can't really know. There is evidence that
giraffes recognize death in their own species - whether that would extend to our species is a question for which we don't yet have a good answer.
Q: Does the giraffe recognize that particular worker in the first place?
A: Possibly. According to the original news article
in Dutch, helpfully
translated by a Reddit user, the man routinely cleaned the giraffe enclosure. If that's the case, then the giraffe certainly knew the man. However, according to a translation of the
article written by the non-profit organization itself, the man's job was to clean the zoo's aquarium; he simply enjoyed watching the giraffes. If he visited often enough, it is possible that the giraffes still recognized him.
A
2002 paper on facial recognition published in Science showed that extensive experience with another species is required to use memory to visually distinguish among multiple individuals. We humans find it trivial to distinguish among other humans, but it takes lots of practice to distinguish among a group of giraffes. Zoo giraffes certainly have extensive experience with our species. It is indeed plausible that the giraffe knew who Mario Eijs was.
Q: Are there other explanations for the behavior?
A: Of course. A far simpler explanation would be that the giraffe was naturally curious about the strange object with a person on it that suddenly appeared near the enclosure. Giraffes have no experience with hospital beds, and the giraffe could simply have been inspecting it. A reaction to a novel object would also explain the behavior.
Q: This man clearly had a relationship with this giraffe. Why are you trying to take that away?
A: Research published earlier this year found that
just because people love their dogs, does not mean that their dogs necessarily love them back. Which is of course true for relationships among humans, too. That means that owner-dog relationships are actually far richer, more layered, and more complex than we may think! The same would apply to human-giraffe relationships as well. That this dying man received his wish to bid farewell to his favorite animals at the zoo is a beautiful thing. But we don't need to appeal to fantastical anthropomorphism in order to find beauty and awe in nature.
