Poachers kill 2 rare white giraffes in Kenya's sanctuary

The rare white giraffe (Iage: National Geographic)

Two rare white giraffes that lived in northeast Kenya’s Ishaqbini Hirola Community Conservancy in Garissa County, were killed by poachers a few months ago.

The news of the death of the female giraffe and her calf emerged on March 10 after conservationists and forest rangers found their carcass in the Ijara Town area. An analysis of the skeletal remains of the near-fantastical creatures revealed that they were killed by armed poachers about four months ago.

With the death of the two white giraffes, a lone bull birthed by the deceased female now remains to amuse beholders.

While the Kenyan Wildlife Service is investigating the case at the moment and trying to nab the poachers at the soonest, the incident brings to fore the larger challenge wildlife conservationists face from poachers.

Lamenting the loss of the star attraction so the east African nation, Mohammed Ahmednoor, manager of Ishaqbini Hirola, said: “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. 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.”

SAD NEWS: @IshaqbiniHirola Community Conservancy, Garissa County loses two famous white giraffes to poachers.

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For more info, here’s the press release. @KWS @USAIDKenya @EUinKenya @denmarkinkenya @Nature_Africa @KWCAKenya @africa_ci @SwedeninKE pic.twitter.com/Nwp1F0VexF

— @nrt_kenya (@NRT_Kenya) March 10, 2020

The white-skinned giraffes were spotted for the first time in the year 2017 at the Ishaqbini sanctuary. As global attention turned to them, it was learnt that they were not albinos. The three giraffes owed their uniqueness to a genetic condition called leucism, due to which animals suffer a loss of pigmentation

Outside of Kenya, a white giraffe was once seen in 2016 at Tanzania’s Tarangire National Park.