Wildlife is just charming and surprising!
Lucky for local people and conservationists, rare white giraffes have been discovered in Kenya.
This pair of reticulated giraffes, that are in fact mother and child, have leucism. This condition prevents the proper pigmentation of skin cells.
Unlike albinism, leucism lets animals develop dark coloring in the soft tissues. This explains the dark eyes and different type of coloring of white giraffes.
The duo was discovered at the Ishaqbini Hirola Conservancy (Garissa County, Kenya). Locals alerted conservationists about the rare animals early in August.
Leucism causes a partial loss of pigment in the animal’s skin, hair, or scales, but not in other organs such as the eyes. And this is why these two giraffes are now considered special.
Other animals with completely white coloring, in fact, have albinism. This one is a congenital disorder that prevents color reproduction in all body parts (including eyes).
In case of leucism, animals may have black eyes. While in case of albinism, the eyes are usually of pink color.
The pink color of albino animals’ eyes is the result of the blood vessels inside the eyes. They are actually visible through the colorless iris.
