HBO’s the last of us wrapped up the season with a nail-biting finale, keeping viewers on the edge of their seats with tension. Despite the episode’s dark mood, a few meaningful and light-hearted moments were shared between Joel and Ellie that established and cemented their relationship, specifically the scene where they stumble upon and feed a live giraffe. You may wonder how animals have lived through the apocalypse, and we’ve got all the information you need. Here’s how the Giraffes survived the infection in HBO’s The Last of Us.
How Giraffes Survived the Infection in HBO’s The Last of Us, Explained
Since her encounter with one alongside Joel, giraffes have always been a fond memory and symbol for Ellie. However, they share something special in common with her: they are immune. The reason why giraffes have managed to survive the infection is quite simply because they cannot be infected and are not viable hosts for the cordyceps fungus.
In the real world, the cordyceps virus is known for infecting a single species of insect, meaning that a cordyceps virus known to target humans is very unlikely to target or to be able to adapt to other species such as giraffes, dogs, and cats.
The only exception to this rule occurred in the video game, where a Doctor’s voice tape revealed that testing on monkeys had caused them to inhabit the virus and become infected and pass this infection along to humans. If there were to be an outlier in terms of the immunity of animals, monkeys do make a lot of sense, considering they’re known to be the most similar species to humans.
However, the TV show did not mention this information when Joel and Ellie crossed paths with some abandoned monkeys on the premises. It can be presumed that this was either seen as irrelevant to their journey or that HBO altered the monkeys to be immune to make understanding the concept of all animals roaming around more straightforward.
That’s everything you need to know about how the giraffes survived the infection in HBO’s The Last of Us. Check out the rest of our content for more helpful guides, lists, and news. We have plenty of topics regarding The Last of Us that will help you survive the cordyceps outbreak, so feel free to scroll down and look at our related links below for yourself.
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