Poachers have killed two extremely rare white giraffes, a mother and her calf, in northeast Kenya, leaving behind only one white giraffe in the world.
According toBBC, rangers had found the carcasses of the female giraffe and its 7-month old calf in a village in north-eastern Kenya’s Garissa County. A third white giraffe, the female giraffe’s other male calf, is the only one that survived. According to conservationists, this calf is believed to be the only one remaining in the world.
Kenya had three rare all-white giraffes. Two of them have been killed.https://t.co/cNJab41gug
“This is a very sad day for the community of Ijara and Kenya as a whole. We are the only community in the world who are custodians of the white giraffe,” Mohammed Ahmednoor, the manager of the Ishaqbini Hirola Community Conservancy, was quoted in a statement released by the conservancy.
“Its killing is a blow to the tremendous steps taken by the community to conserve rare and unique species and a wake-up call for continued support to conservation efforts,” he added.
In October 2017 something rare was spotted in Giraffe County, Kenya. One white giraffe & a kid, due to genetic leucism. As rare they were, everybody was in awe.Yesterday both of the extremely rare creatures were killed by poachers. Short story of wildlife crimes. C- Telegraph.pic.twitter.com/TNvIRARDVv
A rare condition called leucism is what gives the giraffes their white appearance. The genetic condition causes skin cells to have no pigmentation. Sightings of white giraffes were first reported in the Tarangire National Park, Tanzania, in January 2016. Two months later, the next sighting was reported Ishaqbini conservancy in Garissa county, Kenya.
According to the Africa Wildlife Foundation, around 40% of the giraffe population has disappeared in the last 30 years.