Rare Giraffe Born in the US without Spots Raises Conservation Concerns

A spotless giraffe, a rare sight, captures attention as it's born in the United States.

On the 22nd of the month, according to reports from CBS and other sources, a newborn giraffe without the characteristic spots known as reticulations was born in the Brights Zoo last month on the 31st. Experts believe that this spotless giraffe is the only one of its kind in the Brights Zoo. Due to a rare condition called leucism, the giraffe named Lucy lacks the typical pattern on its body. While white giraffes like Lucy have been reported occasionally in 2017 and 2020, giraffes without any spots on their bodies have not been observed for quite some time.

David Bright, the manager of the zoo, also shared, "The last known instance of a non-reticulated giraffe being born was in 1972 at the Ueno Zoo in Tokyo, Japan."

Tony Bright, the founder of the zoo, expressed concern over the decreasing population of wild giraffes. He stated, "With 40% decline in wild giraffe population over the last 30 years, they are quietly slipping into extinction. I hope this rare giraffe's birth will increase global awareness for the endangered giraffe population." Giraffes are renowned as the world's tallest land animals, with reticulated and Masai giraffes being the two main subspecies categorized by their coat patterns. The newly born giraffe falls under the reticulated giraffe category, listed as "vulnerable" by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN), with around 8,500 individuals remaining in the wild. Their habitats are known to be in northern Kenya, southern Ethiopia, and parts of Somalia.