Because of the sudden and tragic death of Kenya’s only female white giraffe and her baby at the hands of illegal poachers, the manager of the conservancy Mohammand Ahmednoor, made a statement stating:
“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. Its killing is a blow to tremendous steps taken by the community to conserve rare and unique species, and a wakeup call for continued support to conservation efforts.”
Ahmednoor also added that the deaths of these rare animals is a definite blow to the country’s tourism and research industries in Garissa, Eastern Kenya.
“This is a long-term loss given that genetics studies and research which were significant investment into the area by researchers has now gone to the drain. Further to this the white giraffe was a big boost to tourism in the area,” he said.
Back in 2017, this completely unique white giraffe made waves of curiosity when she was first spotted in the conservancy, and when she gave birth to two calves in August of last year.
The alabaster color of their skin is not caused by albanism, but rather a condition known as leucism, which means that they only produce dark pigments on soft tissues, such as their dark eyes.
The employees of the Hirola Conservation Programme recounted that in 2017, they were tipped off by local community rangers about the discovery of this giraffe family.
The conservation workers during this time shared that, “they were so close and extremely calm and seemed not disturbed by our presence. The mother kept pacing back and forth a few yards infront of us while signalling the baby Giraffe to hide behind the bushes.”
They added that, “the mother’s behaviour was a ‘characteristic of most wildlife mothers in the wild to prevent the predation of their young.”
This wasn’t the first white giraffe that Africa has seen. In 2016, there were reports of another white giraffe sighting in Tanzania’s Tarangire National Park. Though it is not clear what happened to that particular giraffe, the conservancy is sure the the last surviving calf in their care is the only remaining white giraffe left.
The Giraffe Conservation Foundation reported that the total population of giraffes living in Africa has lessened by 30% since their count in 1980’s and has reached even up to a 95% drop in other areas.
The Hirola programme was named after an endangered species of antelope that the organization is also working hard on protecting.
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