north-eastern Kenya giraffe with a tracking device
The world’s only known white giraffe has been fitted with a tracking device in north-eastern Kenya, conservationists say.
The male giraffe was until recently one of three giraffes with the rare genetic trait. But a white female and her calf were killed by poachers in March in a village in Kenya’s Garissa county.
Its white appearance is due to a condition called leucism, which causes skin cells to have no pigmentation.
Hirola ConservancyCopyright: Hirola Conservancy
The GPS tracking device was placed on one of its horns on 8 November and will give hourly updates of its location.
It will enable rangers to monitor its movements and protect it from poachers.
The board of Ishaqbini Hirola Community Conservancy, where the giraffe lives, had requested the Kenya Wildlife Service (KWS) to fit the giraffe with the tracking device.
