Thursday November 19, 2020
A male giraffe with a rare genetic trait is darted with a tranquiliser in order to be fitted with a GPS tracking device. PHOTO: AP
NAIROBI, KENYA (AP) — The only known white giraffe in the world has been fitted with a GPS tracking device to help protect it from poachers as it grazes in Kenya. But despite its singular status, the lonely male doesn’t have a name.
The white giraffe now stands alone after a female and her calf were killed by poachers in March, the Ishaqbini Hirola Community Conservancy said in a statement on Tuesday.
A rare genetic trait called leucism causes the white colour, and it makes the one surviving giraffe stand out dangerously for poachers in the arid savannah near the Somalia border.
Now the GPS tracking device, attached to one of the giraffe’s horns, will ping every hour to alert wildlife rangers to its location.
The conservancy has thanked the Kenya Wildlife Service along with the Northern Rangelands Trust and Save Giraffes Now for the help.