Two days ago in our local paper was an article about a transplanted giraffe that had died from exposure to cold. Paragraph seven blew me away:
With too much grain in its diet, its gut flora- the good bacteria in its intestines, needed to properly digest food -were damaged.
I couldn’t believe reading this in a mainstream, local paper! Is the writer on GAPS?!
Also of note was the following:
…it died of a relatively rare, but known condition…It begins with a diet high in grains, rather than leafy greens…The giraffes were fed a mixture of grains and roughage. It appears the adult giraffe that died may have been selectively eating more grains and fewer leaves.
As I wrote about in the bear post, it intrigues me that, like humans, animals are susceptible to choosing a diet unnatural for them, which they shortly become addicted to, even to their own demise.
Interesting. A recent survey in the Netherlands showed that a majority of people feel that other people’s kids are badly brought up…. So you know what they will think: “What a stupid giraffe, fortunately I am different and much more clever.”
The best way is giving a good example and that is what you and I and all the others are working on.
So keep it up, I love your posts,
Marijke
Yes! I just was talking about this with a friend who recently acquired a dairy farm. The big problem with cows is of course they will readily gobble up grain, which hurts their bellies. What was interesting was my friend was talking about this with her children [all under 10]. Though they love feeding the cows grain, because they eat so heartily of it, they were starting to understand that just because an animal devours a food, that doesn’t mean it’s good for them.
I see this so much with small children. Parents are concerned that their small children aren’t eating, so they offer them all manner of crackers and cookies, which they often will gobble up, but it over time it of course does the same thing to the child’s gut. It often takes so long to see the results, that parents don’t put the two together.
Poor giraffe…
Can you send me a copy of the article you were reading about the giraffe and the affests of to much grain? I work with giraffe and would greatly appriciate it.
Thank you.
Hi Susan,
I no longer have a copy of the article -this blog post is from almost a year and a half ago- however, a different article about the same matter is online here: http://www.digitaljournal.com/article/285647
I found the quotes in the first one far more relevant to the GAPS community, but this one adds the very interesting additional piece of the relationship, in giraffes, between consumption of grains and the ability to produce sufficient body fat.
All my best,
Baden
Birds bred in captivity have the same problem, only worse, because birds have moods… They will become mono-phages for sometimes weeks, eating only one thing out of all the things they have. My birds are seed-junkies, as they were raised in a birdmill.