Editorial

The giraffe plasma bank

Bringing hope to our long-necked friends

Giraffe ©Pexels

Giraffes are the tallest terrestrials on earth and the largest ruminant species alive today. Giraffes stay reproductively active year-round and have a gestation period of 15 months. Baby giraffes when born stand around 6 feet tall and have incredibly fragile long legs. The survival rate of wild born giraffe babies is only about 50% mainly due to predators, common birthing difficulties and malnutrition.

Many baby giraffes have difficulty nursing properly or difficulty standing to be able to nurse. The mother’s first milk produced, also known as colostrum, is critical to the survival and health of the baby. Colostrum contains immune-supporting agents to help the baby survive against bad pathogens and disease. Baby giraffes are extra susceptible to pathogens and disease if colostrum is not consumed quickly after birth. Also, due to their fragile bones at birth, baby giraffes can easily be injured if they fall, stand too quickly, fall out of the birth canal the wrong way, if they experience trauma or are stepped on. Because of all these many complications, even within the care of humans, the fatality rate of baby giraffes is still 50%.

All this considered, there is still hope for our long-necked friends. There is a new and quickly developing plasma program arising to save the lives of captive baby giraffes. The giraffe plasma bank is becoming a huge deal especially amongst zoos and exotic veterinary practices. It started in 2017, when a giraffe named Lance was trained at the Columbus Zoo to voluntarily give blood, making the process less stressful and simple. Lance’s donations went to save the life of a baby giraffe who was given the plasma to help boost their immune system. Since 2017, Lance has donated over 20 liters of blood and saved the lives of 12 baby giraffes.

I spoke with a giraffe keeper at Omaha Henry Doorly Zoo about the plasma bank. The keeper informed me that 14-year-old Jawara, the only adult male giraffe at the zoo, is their top plasma donor and has saved the lives of four babies so far, including baby Kay at the Lincoln Children’s Zoo. This was fascinating to me. As I stared at the impressive 19-foot majestic giraffe standing in the corner, I thought about how amazing it is that we are able to train such massive animals to donate life-saving blood.

The giraffe plasma bank is a fairly new developing program so there is not much detailed information as of yet. The plasma from donated blood is providing baby giraffes with the much needed immune support they may not have been able to receive from their mothers on time. This program is a growing success and definitely one to watch and get interesting stories from.

Myka Blake is a sophomore biomedical science major from Prescott, Ariz.

The famous atheist philosopher, Friedrich Nietzche, said, “God is dead. God remains dead. And we have killed him.”

This statement speaks as if the idea of God has been eliminated due to scientific advancement, but is that true? Are science and God in opposition? What scientific proof can disprove the existence of God?

To start, if you want to disprove God, there would have to be an explanation for the natural world, which science cannot answer, because science is observation of the natural world, so where does that lead us?

If science is the answer to the natural world, the idea gets circular. It assumes science to be true by using science to prove science is the truth. Doesn’t that just sound confusing?

Believing in God is all about looking to the best explanation of all that is around. The natural world requires a cause, as it came into existence a finite time ago. So intuitively, a powerful transcendent creative Mind that instituted the cosmos is an inference to what we observe to be the cause of the universe. Belief in God gives clarity and understanding into the ideas of consciousness, morality, good and evil, uniformity and design down to the molecular level. Society has moved farther and farther away from the idea of the transcendent Creator.

So what is the response, as Christians and believers in God? The Apostle Peter said, “But sanctify the Lord God in your hearts: and be ready always to give an answer to every man that asketh you a reason of the hope that is in you with meekness and fear.” What does that mean? The Greek word used for giving an answer is apologia, which translates “a defense of”.

This is where the idea of “apologetics” is derived. Apologetics is not about arguing people into the ground or beating religion over peoples’ heads, but it is about ensuring one’s faith and having evidence, reason, intuition, and logic to substantiate the faith. Christians are called to defend the faith. Don’t you want to be able to defend Christ and what He started? Do you want answers to the questions that you may have about God as well? If you have any questions and doubts about Christianity, God or religion, please reach out to the Apologetics Team in Campus Ministries, or scan the QR code to get more info. God Bless!

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The Clocktower encourages reader feedback and strives to maintain accuracy. If you have comments, please email cltower@gmail.com. The Clocktower, established in 1927 and sponsored by the Student Association of Union College, is published weekly during the fall and spring semesters. The opinions expressed are the opinions of the writers and are not to be construed as the opinions of the editors, Student Association, Union College or the Seventh-day Adventist Church.