Rare white giraffe spotted in Tanzania
An extremely rare white giraffe calf has been recently spotted in Tanzania’s Tarangire National Park.
Scientists at Wild Nature Institute, a New Hampshire-based wildlife-research group first spotted the Masai giraffe calf in 2015. The giraffe named Omo after a popular local brand of detergent has a genetic condition called leucism, which means her skin cells don’t produce pigmentation, but soft tissues, such as her dark eyes, do.
The scientist spotted the giraffe again recently.
“We were lucky enough to resight her again this January, almost exactly one year later. We are thrilled that she is still alive and well,” the organisation wrote on its blog.
“Omo is the only pale giraffe we are currently aware of,” Dr Derek Lee founder and scientist at the Wild Nature Institute, explained. “Omo appears to get along with the other giraffes, she has always been seen with a large group of normally coloured giraffe – they don’t seem to mind her different colouring.”
“We and our partners are working on giraffe conservation and anti-poaching to help give Omo and her relatives a better chance of survival. We hope that she lives a long life and that some day she has calves of her own.”
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