The Only White Giraffe Left in the World Wears a GPS

The only known white giraffe now bears a GPS on one of its horns to allow rangers from the Ishaqbini Community Conservancy in Kenya to monitor its movements and protect the unique animal from poachers.

“I am happy to be part of this collaring exercise that will ensure real time monitoring in time and space as part of National Giraffe Strategy implementation,” says Geoffrey Bundotich, Senior Scientist Eastern Conservation Area at the Kenya Wildlife Service. Ahmed Noor, Manager Ishaqbini Hirola Community Conservancy, adds that “[t]he giraffe’s grazing range has been blessed with good rains in the recent past and the abundant vegetation bodes well for the future of the white male.”

The community conservancy Ishaqbini is home to the unique white animal which suffers from leucism, a rare genetic trait, but also to the critically endangered hirola antelope. It also aims to conserve the ecosystem within Ijara, Garissa County, and sustain the livelihood of the communities of Hara, Kotile, and Korisa. “Our mission is to work with communities, enable them to be resilient, secure their livelihoods as well as protect the unique wildlife like the only known white giraffe,” says Northern Rangelands Trust’s Senior Wildlife Monitoring officer Antony Wandera.