Rare giraffe being tracked by GPS

NAIROBI: Kenyan conservationists have fitted the only remaining white giraffe with a GPS tracking device to protect it from poaching.

The white male giraffe has a rare genetic trait called leucism which causes the partial loss of pigmentation, according to Ahmed Noor, manager of the Ishaqbini Hirola Community Conservancy in Garissa County where the animal lives.

The male was one of three white giraffes living in the conservancy until a white female giraffe and her calf were killed by poachers in March.

The GPS unit, which has been placed in the giraffe's horn, will give hourly updates of its location, enabling rangers to keep the animal safer from poachers, Noor says.

The conservancy is also home to the endangered reticulated giraffe and the critically endangered hirola antelope, which has an estimated wild population of 450 individuals. — DPA