To the delight of locals, a pair of rare white giraffes have been discovered.
Mother and baby reticulated giraffes have an inherited condition called leucism, which prevents pigmentation in skin cells.
Unlike albinism, animals with leucism continue to develop dark pigments in their soft tissues, which explains the dark eyes and other colors of white giraffes.
The giraffes have been discovered in the Ishakbini Hirola Wildlife Sanctuary in Garissa District, Kenya after local residents alerted conservationists.
Two white giraffes in Kenya discovered in early August by rangers from the Hirola Conservation Project suffer from a hereditary disease known as leucism.
This rare disease causes a partial loss of pigment in the animal’s skin, coat, or scales, but not in other organs such as the eyes.
Other animals are white because they have albinism, a congenital disorder that prevents the development of skin, hair, scales, and eye color.
As a result, the eyes of leucistic animals may be black, but the eyes of albino animals are usually pink.
(The pink color comes from the blood vessels inside the eyes, which are visible through the colorless iris.)
