The Blue Giraffe mystery extends far deeper. Together with Mtengeni he observes not just the animal in question but another giraffe with a goat-like beard, only six feet long, a green hippopotamus with pink spots, and a two-headed rhinoceros. Other creatures are so mutated their very survival is threatened, and Mtengeni is concerned about the long-term prospects of the animal population. Establishing camp in the bush, the two are separated when the warden goes out into the night for firewood and Cuff, hearing what he takes for a native woman's scream from another direction, heads off to investigate. He finds the woman, treed
The Blue Giraffe The Blue Giraffe "The Blue Giraffe" is a science fiction story on the concept of mutation by American writer L. Sprague de Camp. It was first published in the magazine "Astounding Science-Fiction" for August, 1939. It first appeared in book form in the anthology "Adventures in Time and Space" (Random House, 1946); it later appeared in the anthologies "World of Wonder" (Twayne, 1951), "The Science Fiction Bestiary" (Thomas Nelson, 1971), "Androids, Time Machines and Blue Giraffes" (Follett, 1973), "Isaac Asimov Presents the Great Science Fiction Stories: Volume 1, 1939" (DAW Books, 1979), "" (Bonanza Books, 1983), and "An Anthropomorphic Century"