One of the world’s rarest giraffes has just been born at a zoo in Tennessee – a brown giraffe, born without spots, kind of looking like a horse with long legs and a long neck.
The giraffe was born on July 31, and is already six feet tall, according to the BBC. Yes, her mother does have spots.
Experts believe she is the only “solid-coloured reticulated giraffe living anywhere on the planet”, Brights Zoo, the Zoo where the giraffe was born, said in a statement viewed by WJHL News. There are apparently records of a spotless giraffe born in a Japanese zoo during the 1970s, and albino giraffes have been spotted in the wild, but today, this Tennessee-born giraffe seems to be unique for its coat.
According to wildlife conservation biologist Fred Bercovitch, as reported by Yahoo News, the brown coat is “almost certainly due to a specific mutation”.
And now, to celebrate her birth, the zoo is running a naming competition. Over on Facebook, the zoo is encouraging visitors to vote between the four following Swahili names: Kipekee (meaning ‘unique’), Firyali (meaning ‘unusual or extraordinary’), Shakiri (meaning ‘she is the most beautiful’), or Jamella (‘One of great beauty’). Each will obviously suit the spotless giraffe well.
The zoo is also encouraging people to visit Save Giraffes Now. “The more of us that support these organisations that do work in the wild the better. We want to ensure that future generations get the opportunity to see these wonderful animals in the future,” the zoo said on Facebook.
“The international coverage of our patternless baby giraffe has created a much-needed spotlight on giraffe conservation. Wild populations are silently slipping into extinction, with 40 per cent of the wild giraffe population lost in just the last 3 decades,” said zoo founder Tony Bright to WJHL News.
Her name will be decided upon in September.
Anyway, as you were, this was too sweet not to share.