Delavan, Wisconsin: Giraffe Statue

The giraffe was sweet and gentle, but misunderstood and maltreated and died. The story I heard was that during the early circus days, a lone giraffe from one of the circuses panicked at that exact spot in the town square where the statue is, and died in a horrifying manner in front of the Native American population, who had arrived to give spiritual aid to the giraffe. They couldn't do anything but stand there and watch. The regular townspeople would not have been around because they avoided the circus people and Native Americans, who were the only witnesses. I suspect it was a shameful thing and was not spoken of.

The Delavan Giraffe stands tall in downtown Delavan. The town of Delavan was a huge circus town from 1847 to 1895. This statue was donated to honor their circus heritage.