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14 Sep, 2017 14:45

Hard to spot: Rare white giraffes filmed in Kenya (VIDEO)

Hard to spot: Rare white giraffes filmed in Kenya (VIDEO)

Usually difficult to spot due to their small numbers and lack of spots, a pair of rare white giraffes were filmed in Kenya. The mother and baby were discovered by villagers in the Ishaqbini conservancy in Garissa, eastern Kenya.

Following the discovery, members of the Hirola Conservation Program went to the area in search of the elusive giraffes, uploading the below video in August.

“The mother kept pacing back and forth a few yards in front of us while signaling the baby Giraffe to hide behind the bushes – a characteristic of most wildlife mothers in the wild to prevent the predation of their young,” they said in a blog post.

The white skin differs to albinism in humans, where pigment can’t be produced, resulting in white skin and pink eyes. Instead, the giraffes have leucism, a rare condition which renders their skin mostly white but allows for pigment production on some parts of their bodies, including their eyes.

First spotted in Tanzania in April 2015, several sightings have been made since, all in Kenya and Tanzania.

Giraffes are categorized as ‘vulnerable’ by the International Union for Conservation of Nature, with their current population estimated at just over 97,500.

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