Gerald the killer giraffe who headbutted Brit cameraman to death in South Africa ‘had a history of violence and tried to kill before’
One of the giraffe's handlers has refused to work with him and social media reports claim he hospitalised other tourists in the past
THE giraffe that head butted and killed award winning Wild at Heart cameraman Carlos Carvalho has a history of violence, it can be revealed.
Despite knocking a woman to the ground in 2016 and reports that he put other tourists in hospital earlier this year, Gerald the Giraffe's British owner says he won't get rid of his movie star mammal.
Recalling the 2016 incident at his South African wild animal farm, expat John Brooker said the woman got too close to Gerald and miraculously survived serious injury.
“Gerald was in a camp to keep him out the way of volunteers working on the farm,” explained Brooker.
“A lodge guest driving out of the farm saw him and walked right up to the fence. While she was taking a photograph Gerald bent down and knocked her down.
"It wasn’t a big deal. She had a bruise on her face. She got back in her car and drove off.
“The problem is the guests ignored the signs on the fence telling guests to keep away from the fence and the giraffe. They don’t get that every single wild animal is dangerous.
“A giraffe can be more dangerous than a lion which would have to bite you three or four times to kill you.
"A giraffe is a huge and heavy animal and as we know can kill a person with one blow.”
Brooker noted that he’s facilitated over 600 movie productions on his farm, located 64 km north of Johannesburg, without incident.
They include Top Gear, seven series of the popular ITV series Wild At Heart and Against the Wild starring Liz Hurley.
He would not comment on a social media reports that claimed Gerald had hospitalised tourists earlier this year with his headbutting.
When pushed for a denial he texted, “Back Off”.
“I was at Glen Afric just a few weeks ago and Gerald was locked away because he'd hospitalised some guests with his head butting,” said a user called Jojo in a post on africageographic.com.
“Can't believe they allowed him out with this film crew, and he's done it again and killed someone. They knew he was dangerous."
Jojo claimed he photographed Gerald in quarantine.
“It's definitely true - I have pics of Gerald locked in an enclosure away from the public.
"We asked why we couldn't go closer to see him and was told he'd become aggressive and needed some 'time out' from the public.
"I still don't think he should be destroyed though - just needs to be away from close human contact. He obviously doesn't like it.
“I had no idea giraffes could hurt people but we were told how they swing their necks and head butt violently. I was shocked when I heard it was Gerald.”
Brooker said despite a history of violence, he was remaining loyal to Gerald – even though his ex-wife handler Vicky has said she can’t work with him anymore.
“I want to move him. I can’t work with him again after the incident,” said Vicky Brooker. “I will never work with him again. I’m always really worried the animal might hurt somebody.
Brooker revealed her decision this week while the widow of fatally wounded cameraman Carlos Carvalho bravely faced up to her husband’s killer.
Dramatic footage shows Dina Carvalho getting close to Gerald for the first time to “get in touch with my husband’s last encounter with this world”.
After being struck, Carvalho flew four metres through the air and landed in a crumpled heap where blood poured from his eyes, nose and ears.
A few hours later he was declared dead at Johannesburg’s Milpark Hospital after succumbing to extensive facial and skull fractures and severe brain injuries.
“It’s a lot of nonsense that we are getting rid of Gerald,” Mr Brooker said.
“Vicky doesn’t own any of the animals. She’s employed as an animal wrangler because she has huge experience. If she doesn’t want to work with Gerald she doesn’t need to.
"But he’s not going anywhere. Unless I get an offer from a 1000 hectare farm, he’s here to stay.”
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Meanwhile Carvalho’s widow and two children battle to cope with violent death amid claims from Glen Afric and his production company he alone was squarely to blame for Gerald’s deadly attack – even though Carvalho was officially shooting and Gerald was left unattended with no animal wrangler shepherding him.
Carvalho was widely respected in the movie industry and won a number of awards since he began his career as a runner in 1992.
They included a Silver Lion at the Cannes Film Festival in 2003 for a public service announcement for Childline and a 2014 African Movie Academy Cinematography Award and the Haskell Wexler Award for Best Cinematography at the 14thWoodstock Film Festival Maverick Awards Gala in New York for “The Forgotten Kingdom”.
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