Exceptionally rare white giraffes reportedly killed by poachers in Kenya – By Tim Balk and Joseph Wilkinson (New York Daily News) / March 10 2020
Two exceedingly rare, blindingly white giraffes reportedly have been killed by poachers in Kenya.
Rangers located the colorless mammals in a village in the country’s Garissa County, the BBC reported Tuesday.
Following the slaying of the two giraffes, the worldwide white giraffe population is believed to have shrunk to just one, according to the BBC.
The white giraffes went viral in 2017, and haven’t been spotted for months, the BBC reported. The animals have a condition called leucisim, in which some of their skin cells are devoid of pigment — it’s different from albinism, a condition in which no melanin is produced at all.
As poachers target giraffes’ meat and skin, the species’ population as a whole has declined by 40% in the past three decades, according to the African Wildlife Foundation.
Continue to article: https://www.nydailynews.com/news/world/ny-giraffes-killed-kenya-bbc-20200311-i52fynbc3vckzguwoht2zd6kqy-story.html
