‘Nudging on the edge of fame’: Heritage Minute remembers giraffe expert, U of T alum Anne Innis Dagg

Photo credit: Nick Iwanyshyn

“When I was little, my mother took me to the zoo. My love affair began right there – I wanted to know everything about giraffes.”

This opening line from a new Heritage Minute about University of Toronto alum Anne Innis Dagg (BA 1955, MA 1956) sets the stage for her solo, self-organized trip to South Africa in 1956, where she spent a year observing giraffes for up to 10 hours a day. 

Dagg, who became one of the world’s foremost experts on giraffes, graduated from U of T’s Faculty of Arts & Science with an undergraduate degree in biology and a master’s degree in genetics before her trip. She later completed a PhD in animal behaviour at the University of Waterloo. 

“For the Minutes, we look for people and events who have helped shape the country,” says Anthony Wilson-Smith, president and CEO of Historica Canada, the charitable organization that produces about three of the educational spots each year. “She was groundbreaking for both her gender, and the overall work she did. She contributed greatly in the study of wildlife.”

Yet, Dagg – who died in 2024 at the age of 91 – never got the traditional academic career she wanted (she didn’t receive a tenure position at the University of Guelph, which later apologized when Dagg visited the university for the screening of the 2018 documentary about her work: The Woman Who Loves Giraffes), nor the funding to do more research in Africa.

Nevertheless, she published more than 60 academic papers and 20 books over her career, including The Giraffe: Its Biology, Behavior, and Ecology in 1976 – widely considered the seminal text on the mammal. The book’s second edition, published in 2014, was retitled Giraffe: Behavior, and Conservation.

“We often try to make Minutes about people who are nudging on the edge of fame. They have huge achievements but are not as well-known as perhaps they should be,” Wilson-Smith says.

U of T recognized Dagg with an honorary degree in 2021 and her convocation address urged students to pursue their curiosity even if they faced challenges. In 2023, she delivered the Snider Lecture at U of T Mississauga. 

Dagg’s ties to U of T ran deep. She was the daughter of Harold Innis, a professor of political economy and namesake of Innis College, and writer Mary Quayle Innis, who served as dean of women at University College. Many of their papers and photographs, including images of Anne as a child, are housed at the U of T Archives in the Innis Family fonds.

Joan Simalchik, an associate professor emeritus in the department of historical studies at U of T Mississauga, served as a consultant for the Heritage Minute, which was filmed at the Toronto Zoo. 

Dagg’s daughter, Mary Dagg, praised the Heritage Minute’s portrayal.

“It really captures my mother,” says Dagg, who helped her mom launch the Anne Innis Dagg Foundation in 2020 to promote education and conservation, with a particular focus on giraffes.

“She slugged away for 70 years where nobody was paying much attention to all the stuff she was doing.”

Originally published by U of T News