The World’s Last Known White Giraffe Gets GPS Tracking Device

As the sole surviving white giraffe grazes in Kenya’s arid savanna, wildlife rangers will track the animal’s location to help protect it from poachers.

The World’s Last Known White Giraffe Gets GPS Tracking Device

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 the arid savanna in Kenya near the Somalia border.

Photo by Ishaqbini Community Conservancy via 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 Tuesday.

A tracking device attached to one of the giraffe’s horns will ping every hour to alert wildlife rangers to the animal’s location.

A tracking device attached to one of the giraffe’s horns will ping every hour to alert wildlife rangers to the animal’s location.

Photo by Ishaqbini Community Conservancy via AP

A rare genetic trait called leucism causes the white color, and it makes the one surviving giraffe stand out dangerously for poachers in the arid savanna 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 unnamed giraffe has a rare genetic trait called leucism, which cause its white color.

The unnamed giraffe has a rare genetic trait called leucism, which cause its white color.

Photo by Ishaqbini Community Conservancy via AP

The conservancy has thanked the Kenya Wildlife Service along with the Northern Rangelands Trust and Save Giraffes Now for the help.

>> Next: Kenya Reopens to American Travelers. What Does That Actually Mean?

The Associated Press provides independent news journalism from around the world.
From Our Partners
Sign up for our newsletter
Join more than a million of the world’s best travelers. Subscribe to the Daily Wander newsletter.
More from AFAR