World’s Last Known White Giraffe Male Gets GPS Tracking Device

Back in June 2017, a Kenyan villager spotted a rare white female giraffe and its calf. The villager in Kenya had, at the time, been herding his animals near the Ishaqbini Hirola Conservancy in northeast Kenya. The conservancy is in a large unfenced area with several villages within it. The villager came upon a ghostly giraffe with a mighty long neck grazing in the distance.

When the villager took a closer look, he also discovered a smaller pale baby giraffe accompanied the tall, majestic giraffe. The villager then decided to report his sighting of the pair of rare white giraffes to the rangers in Ishaqbini Conservancy, Garissa County.

White Giraffe Filmed at the Ishaqbini Hirola Conservancy

After the rangers received the information, they rushed to get a look at the majestic giraffes. The rangers found the pair at the Ishaqbini Hirola Conservancy, an area managed by the Hirola Conservation Program (HCP). The program is an NGO devoted to conserving the critically endangered hirola antelope, one of the rarest on earth.

While at Hirola, the rangers spent almost 20 minutes with the beautiful giraffes and took numerous close-up photos and videos of the pair. The two remained calm and seemed unbothered by the ranger’s presence despite them being very close to them.

This was the first time white giraffes had been captured on film despite other earlier sightings of giraffes with similar conditions in other countries. The first-ever sighting of a white giraffe happened at Tarangire National Park in January 2016. A Masai giraffe calf called Omo was observed at the park.

Leucism and Albinism

After the giraffes were filmed and photographed, news about their existence spread across the world. The appearance of the duo was something very new to the world. The pair displayed the features of a genetic condition known as leucism. Leucism is a condition that inhibits pigmentation in skin cells.

Dissimilar to albinism, where animals don’t produce any melanin, animals with leucism continue to produce dark pigments in their soft tissue, and their eyes retain a normal color. Animals with albinism usually have red eyes.

Last White Giraffe fitted with GPS Tracker

Because the giraffes were so rare white news about their existence spread across the world quickly. The conservancy, a vast and unfenced area, only made it easier for poachers to reach the animals. Rangers found the carcasses of the female giraffe and her calf on 10^th March 2020. The discovery was made in a village in north-eastern Kenya’s Garissa County.

After this incident, only a third white male giraffe remained in Kenya. During August last year, the slain female giraffe gave birth at the Ishaqbini Hirola Community Conservancy to the lone bull. This bull is believed to be the only remaining one in the world. Despite its singular status, the lonely male doesn’t have a name.

Because of its white color, the giraffe stands out dangerously for poachers in the arid savannah near the Somalia border. Due to this fact, the bull was fitted with a GPS tracking device to help protect it from poachers as it grazes in Kenya. The tracking device is attached to one of the giraffe’s horns and pings every hour to alert wildlife rangers to its location. The Ishaqbini Hirola Conservancy thanked the Kenya Wildlife Service and also the Northern Rangelands Trust and Save Giraffes Now for the help.