WILDLIFE SCIENTISTS in Tanzania are investigating a severe infectious ear disease that is reported to have affected up to 30 per cent of an estimated 300 giraffes in Mikumi National Park, 300 km southwest of Dar es Salaam. The tick-borne disease, known scientifically as otitis media, was first observed in the park in October 1999 in two animals. A survey of 210 giraffes in 2002, indicated that 16 of them had severe otitis. Scientists who have been observing the situation