A giraffe, known as the gentle giant of nature, can sometimes turn out to be a killer.

This behavior once observed by wildlife specialist Amy Attenborough was again reinforced after a giraffe kicked a farm worker to death outside Bela-Bela in Limpopo on Saturday.

According to provincial police spokesperson, Lieutenant-Colonel, Moatshe Ngoepe, the 49-year old worker was feeding the animals when the giraffe kicked him in the stomach.

The incident happened at a local safari lodge.

His family was too distraught to speak to News24 on Saturday.

“According to the information received, the paramedics were summoned and on arrival they tried to resuscitate him, but was later declared dead,” Ngoepe said.

He said the police in Bela-Bela have opened an inquest docket.

Other incidents of giraffe attacks reported in 2018 includes that of an award-winning South African filmmaker, Carlos Carvallo, who died after being head-butted by the animal while filming at Glen Africa country Lodge in the North West in May.

In September, Katy Williams and her three-year-old son were left critically injured when a giraffe that has just given birth attacked them at the Blyde Wildlife Estate in Hoedspruit.

Attenborough once wrote: “Giraffes are well-versed in the art of self-defence to the point where even lions only dare to attack them in large groups. 

“A giraffe can kick in any direction and in a manner of ways, and its kick cannot only kill a lion, but has even been known to decapitate it.”