A fascinating tale of science, gender and giraffe conservation
Dec. 31 – Jan. 3—WOODSTOCK—Billings Farm & Museum’s 11th annual Woodstock Vermont film series features “The Woman Who Loves Giraffes,” a fascinating tale of science, gender and giraffe conservation.
In 1956, four years before Jane Goodall ventured into the world of chimpanzees and seven years before Dian Fossey left to work with mountain gorillas, in fact, before anyone, man or woman had made such a trip, 23-year-old Canadian biologist, Anne Innis Dagg, made an unprecedented solo journey to South Africa to become the first person in the world to study animal behavior in the wild on that continent.
In “The Woman Who Loves Giraffes,” an older (now 85), wiser Anne Dagg takes us on her first expedition back to Africa to retrace where her trail-blazing journey began more than half a century ago. By retracing her original steps, and with letters and stunning, original 16mm film footage, Anne Dagg offers an intimate window into her life as a young woman, juxtaposed with a firsthand look at the devastating reality that giraffes are facing today. Both the world’s first “giraffologist,” whose research findings ultimately became the foundation for many scientists following in her footsteps, and the species she loves, have each experienced triumphs as well as nasty battle scars. “The Woman Who Loves Giraffes” gives us a moving perspective on both.
The film can be streamed in the comfort of your home Dec. 31-Jan.3. Visit billingsfarm.org/filmseries.
