The world’s final recognized white giraffe receives a GPS monitoring system after poachers kill girls and calf

The only known white giraffe in the world has been fitted with a GPS tracking device to protect it from poachers while grazing in Kenya. But despite his unique status, the lonely man has no name.

The white giraffe now stands alone after a woman and her calf were killed by poachers In March, the Ishaqbini Hirola Community Conservancy said in a statement on Tuesday.

In this photo, published by the Ishaqbini Community Conservancy, a male giraffe with a rare genetic trait called leukism that causes a white color is shot with a sedative to mount a GPS tracking device that a helicopter has in the Ishaqbini Community Conservancy in Kenya is seen from Sunday, November 8, 2020.

/ AP

A rare genetic trait called leukism is what causes the white color and makes the surviving giraffe stand out dangerously for poachers in the arid savannah near the Somali border.

Now the GPS tracking device, which is attached to one of the giraffe’s horns, pings every hour to alert rangers of its location.

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

“The giraffe’s pasture has seen good rainfall in the recent past, and the lush vegetation bodes well for the white man’s future,” said Ahmed Noor, the reserve’s manager.

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According to the Africa Wildlife Foundation, about 40% of the giraffe population has disappeared in the past 30 years, with poaching and wildlife trafficking contributing to this decline. Giraffes are listed as an endangered species on the International Union for Conservation of Nature’s Red List with an estimated population of 68,293 worldwide.