The Giraffe Conservation Foundation has announced a surprising discovery of a spotless Angolan giraffe accompanying her mother in the wild at a private game reserve in Namibia. The spotless giraffe was sighted barely a few weeks after a similar one christened Kipekee was delivered at a Tennessee zoo. There are only two such spotless giraffes.
The spotless giraffe was spotted by tour guide Eckart Demasius, who photographed the brown calf while leading a game drive on the 90,000-acre reserve, according to National Geographic.
Initially, conservationists assumed Kipeke was the only living spotless giraffe in the world until the recent one was spotted at the Mount Etjo Safari Lodge. Only two completely spotless Angolan giraffes had ever been documented, both in Japanese zoos, as reported by the foundation.
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Julian Fennessy, co-founder of the wildlife organization, explained that the lack of spots arises from “genetic mutations or recessive genotype in one or more genes related to the pattern, but without detailed genetic analysis, these are mere speculations.”
Fennessy was however worried that the spotless giraffes are facing a gradual extinction, and appealed to the public to raise awareness and funds to protect their declining population. Currently, there are an estimated 117,000 giraffes across the continent.
