Kenyan poachers kill rare white giraffes

Poachers have killed a female white giraffe and her calf in eastern Kenya. The poaching has triggered a controversy about the missing efforts to save the endangered animals. White giraffes suffer from a genetic condition that inhibits skin cells from producing pigment but allows other organs, like eyes, to be dark coloured.

Hyderabad: Kenyan poachers have killed two rare white giraffes in the country's wildlife sanctuary, leaving only one white giraffe worldwide, media reports said on Tuesday.

The bodies of the two giraffes -- a female and her calf -- were found in a skeletal state after being killed by armed poachers in Garissa in eastern Kenya, the Guardian reported citing the Ishaqbini Hirola Community Conservancy.

The poaching has left only one white giraffe across the world.

Conservationists believe that these giraffes have suffered from a genetic condition called leucism, which inhibits skin cells from producing pigment but allows other organs, like eyes, to be dark coloured. Despite their inability to produce colourful pigment, giraffes and other animals with leucism don’t face genetic disadvantages to their survival, but their colour can attract unwanted attention, National Geographic said.