Spotless giraffe — first ever seen in wild — photographed with mom in Namibia. See it
A young giraffe without any visible spots was photographed in the wild of Namibia — a first-of-its kind sighting.
The “plain brown” giraffe was seen with its mother on a private game reserve, Mount Etjo Safari Lodge, in central Namibia, the Giraffe Conservation Foundation said in a Sept. 11 news release.
This “is the first spotless giraffe recorded in the wild in Africa,” the wildlife organization said.
Photos show the young giraffe standing near its mother and following her. The giraffe has a caramel-brown coat and looks distinctly different from its normal-colored mother.
Spotless giraffes are a “rare phenomenon,” the release said. Only two other spotless brown giraffes have been documented, “both in zoos,” the organization said.
A brown giraffe, named Kipekee, was born at a zoo in Tennessee in August. At the time, giraffe experts believed Kipekee was “the only solid colored reticulated giraffe living anywhere on the planet,” the zoo told McClatchy News, and described her as the “World’s Rarest Giraffe.”
The other brown giraffe was documented at a zoo in Japan in 1972, the Giraffe Conservation Foundation said.
The young brown giraffe photographed in Namibia is the first ever confirmed sighting of a spotless giraffe in the wild.
“The lack of spots could be caused by genetic mutations or recessive genotype in one or more genes related to the pattern, but without detailed genetic analysis, these are mere speculations,” Julian Fennessy, the wildlife organization’s co-founder, said in the release.
Namibia is along the southwestern coast of Africa and borders Angola, Zambia, Botswana and South Africa.
This story was originally published September 13, 2023 at 8:06 AM with the headline "Spotless giraffe — first ever seen in wild — photographed with mom in Namibia. See it."
