Rare White Giraffes Have Been Caught On Camera For The First Time Ever

Sep 21, 2018

Two rare white giraffes have been captured on video in Ishaqbini Hirola Conservancy. The momma giraffe and her calf have leucism preventing the skin from producing pigment while other organs in the animal's body function normally.

Therefore, these majestic giraffes have normal-colored eyes, unlike albino animals. If they were albino, then you could not see the animal's pattern either as the pigment is necessary for the pattern to become apparent.

Make sure that you pay special attention to the momma's actions as she paces back and forth in front of the camera ready to protect her calf if need be.

Unlike many human babies, the calf has already listened to his momma and his safely hiding in the bushes.

It is a prime example of George Eliot's quote that "Animals are such agreeable friends―they ask no questions, they pass no criticisms." Hirola Conservation Programme Director & Founder Dr. Abdullahi Ali describes it this way saying, "Nature is always stunning and continue to surprise humanity!"

This white female giraffe made be one of the oldest examples of giraffes living with Leucism as they are often killed by other animals before they are six-months-old. In this case, the local tribesmen went to the conservation program to see if they could get help to protect the giraffes.

If you look very carefully at the baby, then you will see that he has very conspicuous reticulates compared to his mother. This has left experts at the conservatory wondering if babies with Leucism are born with more distinct patterning that fades as they get older.

This is not the first time that giraffes with Leucism have been spotted leaving researchers to wonder if they are becoming more popular and why. In the Tarangire National Park, a white giraffe was spotted in January 2015. In that case, researchers named the calf Orno and worried about her life as well. The same giraffe was spotted a year later.

The first reporting of a sighting of a white giraffe occurred in 1938. Colonel Macnab Snyder recorded the sighting near Maasai Mara, Kenya, on a 16-millimeter camera.

He immediately went to the Kenyan Wildlife Department who placed the white giraffe under government protection. The government then surrounded the giraffe with a ring of game wardens at all times.

One can only hope that these two beautiful animals will receive some type of special protection, so they can live out their natural lives.

Researchers say that they hold out hope that the ability of other giraffes of normal coloring to treat white giraffes the same can be an encouragement to people to get along with people who look different than themselves.

What do you think? Have you ever seen a giraffe like this before? Let us know in the comments and show this article to a giraffe-lover you know!