Giraffe Meat is Kosher

The Telegraph (UK) reported Friday that giraffe meat is kosher.

According to a report in the Yedioth Ahronoth newspaper, vets were asked to treat an adult, female giraffe at Israel's largest zoo, the Safari Park in Ramat Gan.

The team, led by Professor Zohar Amar, took a routine sample of milk and found that it clotted in the way required by Jewish law for kosher certification.

They submitted more milk for verification by the rabbinical authorities and the paper reported that a ruling was made that giraffe meat and milk are acceptable for observant Jews.

The giraffe belongs to the family of grazing animals that have cloven hooves and chew the cud, thereby making them consistent with kosher rules, but the milk test was the final confirmation.

"Indeed, the giraffe is kosher for eating," Rabbi Shlomo Mahfoud, who accompanied the researchers in their work, said.

Of course, this comes with the understanding that people aren't going to jump on a giraffe-eating bandwagon. Giraffes are endangered.

But if you keep kosher and you're attacked someday by an angry giraffe and have to kill it to save your own life, then it would be acceptable for you to eat some of the meat. It's good to know for sure.