Dr. Anne Innis Dagg, the trailblazing scientist (born in Toronto, ON Canada and who resided most recently in Waterloo, ON Canada) spotlighted in the award-winning documentary, The Woman Who Loves Giraffes, passed away on Monday, April 1 following a short illness. She was 91.
In The Woman Who Loves Giraffes, Dr. Anne Innis Dagg retraces her 1956 journey to South Africa to study giraffes in the wild. The documentary opened on Jan. 10, 2020 at The Quad Cinema in New York City and Feb. 21, 2020 at Laemmle Theatres in Los Angeles via distributor Zeitgeist Films.
Jeannette Catsoulis in her review of the film in The New York Times said of Dagg, “when we see this remarkable woman, once overlooked and uncelebrated, return to the scene of her pioneering research, it’s clear she’s finally back where she belongs.” Kenneth Turan in his review of the film in Los Angeles Times said, “Dagg’s continued passion for doing everything possible to keep the now-endangered giraffe healthy and thriving, are more heartening still, a remarkable conclusion to a surprising tale.”
“Anne was a great inspiration to me and my colleagues in the study of giraffes, and even more so as a champion for the rights of animals and disenfranchised people,” said Monica Bond, Principal Scientist, Wild Nature Institute. “Anne was a superstar, working tirelessly in the face of constant adversity, and left the world a better place.”
“When I set out to make The Woman Who Loves Giraffes I had no idea Anne would become family to me,” added Alison Reid, director. “Her tremendous kindness, tenacious pursuit of dreams, unshakeable fight for right, easy laughter and perpetual curiosity & delight with the natural world left an indelible mark on me. It has been the privilege of a lifetime to know her.”
A pioneering zoologist, ground-breaking biologist, animal rights activist, feminist and professor, Dagg earned her BA with Honors in Biology (1955) and her MA in Genetics (1956) at the University of Toronto as well as her PhD in Animal Behaviour (1967) at the University of Waterloo.
Dagg received worldwide recognition as the first Western scientist to study giraffes in the wild in 1956. Her book Giraffe: Biology, Behaviour and Conservation (1976) is known as the bible of giraffes and is still used by scientists to this day. She is the author of over 60 scientific papers and 26 books including, Pursuing Giraffe: A 1950’s Adventure and The Fifty Per Cent Solution: Why Should Women Pay for Men’s Culture?. Anne’s academic interests included giraffes and Africa, gaits of mammals, sexual bias in behavioral biology, feminism (especially in academia), sociobiology, animal behaviors, aggression, and human evolution.
Appointed to the Order of Canada by the Governor General in 2019, Dagg received an Honorary Doctorate in Science from the University of Waterloo, University of Toronto, McMaster University and Mount Saint Vincent University.
Her previous honors include being named one of the top eight women biologists in Canada (1975), the Pioneer Award from the Association of Giraffe Care Professionals (2010), and the Lifetime Achievement Award from the International Giraffid Conference (2016). Anne was featured in “Courage and Passion: Canadian Women in Natural Sciences” at the Canadian Museum of Nature (2018). In 2019, the Dr. Anne Innis Dagg Scholarship for Summer Research was created at the University of Guelph. She is an Honorary Member of the Canadian Society of Zoologists, an Honorary Lifetime Member of the Canadian Society for Ecology and Evolution, and was awarded for her Exceptional Public Service by the Canadian Consulate. She received the Laurence J. Burpee Medal of Honour from The Royal Canadian Geographic Society and the Umvikeli Wildlife Protector Award 2022 from Wild Tomorrow Fund.
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