Kenya rangers fit tracker to last white giraffe after poachers kill its family

A tiny tracking device has been fitted to a horn of the world’s last known white giraffe in an effort to spare it from poachers. Rangers in the Ishaqbini Hirola community conservancy in

eastern Kenya will receive an hourly update on the location of the lone male. They fear he could be targeted by the killers of his mother and younger sibling, who were also white. The pair

were found stripped of their skin in March by rangers at the reserve near the border with Somalia. The animals’ alabaster colour is caused by a condition known as leucism, a trait that

allows them to still produce dark pigment in their soft tissue, giving them dark eyes. This differs from albinism, which inhibits the body from producing pigment in all organs. Leucism is

found in many mammals but it is extremely rare in giraffes. Giraffes are being targeted more frequently by trophy hunters as other big-game animals have become scarcer and more protected.

Their hide is sought after as an “exotic” leather for boots, jackets, Bible covers and even cushion covers complete with eyelashes. The rarity of white giraffes would make their skin highly

prized. Africa’s giraffe population has plummeted by about 40 per cent over the past four decades and conservationists are warning of their “silent extinction”. The continent now has more

than four times as many elephants as giraffes. By 2016 they were estimated to number approximately 97,000, with the loss of habitat, wars and poaching driving the decline. Advertisement

Ahmed Noor, the conservancy’s manager, said he hoped that the new tracker and recent good rains “bode well for the future of the white male”.