The World's Only White Giraffe Has A Tragic Story

Giraffes are one of those iconic species of the African savannah: tall-necked, with their trademark mottled coats decked out in all the colors of a slightly over-ripe banana. 

In Kenya, though, there’s one giraffe who doesn’t fit in with the others. Dazzlingly white and mysteriously unnamed, he’s the only known such creature in the world: a giraffe with the rare genetic trait of leucism.

Unlike the more familiar condition of albinism – that is, the complete lack of the melanin pigment – leucism is kind of a halfway mark between that and normal coloring. For this guy, for example, you can see pigmentation on his back, and to a lesser extent on his neck and face, even though he’s very clearly not as yellowy-brown as your standard giraffe.

It’s a highly rare pigmentation, not only in giraffes but across the evolutionary tree – and for a good reason. Melanin isn’t just useful for looking pretty: the dark patterns it creates in fur and feathers and skin also serve to help regulate temperature, protect organisms from UV radiation, and of course help camouflage animals from predators. It’s involved in the development and function of organs, it helps keep blood oxygen levels high, and has even been found to protect against parasites and pollutants. 

For all these reasons, animals with albinism or leucism often have reduced lifespans, especially in the wild. But it was a very different tragedy that made this fella quite as unique as he is: see, he wasn’t always the only known white giraffe. 

Until five years ago, in fact, he was one of three. In 2020, however, the mother and calf who wandered with him in the Ishaqbini Hirola Community Conservancy in Garissa County, Kenya, were killed by poachers. The baby was less than nine months old at the time.

“This is a very sad day for the community of Ijara and Kenya as a whole,” said Mohammed Ahmednoor, manager of Ishaqbini Hirola, in a statement at the time. “We are the only community in the world who are custodians to 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.”

Not long after that, the remaining white bull was fitted with a GPS tracking device, which pinged wildlife rangers each hour with his location. It was hoped that this would help deter poachers from killing this one along with his partner and child. 

After that, he seems to have disappeared into the wilds of the conservancy, mostly unseen by humans. Which is great. After all he’s been through, he probably deserves it.