In Nairobi Kenya, two white giraffes were killed by poachers.
These giraffes have rare pigmentation and have mesmerized the whole world. It has been very challenging for the official and Kenya to avoid the impact of poaching but finally, they got them.
It is a very sad day for the world as their deaths caused only one more giraffe to be left, a male one.
The manager of Ishaqbini Hirola Community Conservancy in northeastern Kenya, where the giraffes are living, said that their rangers made a confirmation of the death of the two giraffes.
A white female giraffe and a 7-month-old calf. There were photos of the skeletal remains of the two.
“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.” He continued, “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.”
From what they have seen, it is estimated that they have been killed about 4 months ago.
According to Kenya Wildlife Service: We are investigating reports of the deaths of a white Giraffe and a calf in Ishaqbini Conservancy in Garissa County. Our teams on the ground have seen bones believed to be those of the two giraffes.
The bones are estimated to be four months old.
The uniqueness of their whiteness has garnered international attention and was first seen grazing in 2017 by one villager from Kenya who was also herding his animals near the Ishaqbini sanctuary.
The adult giraffe was also together with a baby giraffe and has not been known if the pale baby giraffe cleared from the skin pigmentation last year. in 2019, a second calf was born to bringing the total white giraffes in the sanctuary to 3.
These giraffes didn’t have albinism but are showing symptoms of some sort of genetic condition known to be leucism by which animals experience some partial loss of pigmentation.
The Giraffe Conservation Foundation said that the number of reticulated giraffes all over the world has declined by more than 50% in the past 30 years. In Africa, there are several 111,000 giraffes. Most of these calves don’t survive in their first year.
The killings of these animals specifically the rare white giraffes just highlighted the poaching in the area for their meat and hide. Elephants and rhinoceroses’ population also declined as their ivory and horns are deemed to be valuable as status symbols and are also used for traditional medicine.
Furthermore, these white giraffes were a big boost to the tourism industry in the area.
For those who may know something about the wildlife and conserving it, you may contact the Kenya Wildlife Center:
Our personnel on the ground are jointly working with community rangers and the conservancy management to establish the facts about the incident. Ag. Head – Corporate Communications Ngugi Gecaga 0722417755
