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The amazing white giraffes 0:52
(CNN) - They were one of the rarest giraffes to walk the planet, and now they are gone.
The remains of two impressive white giraffes that lived in a wildlife sanctuary in Kenya were found in a skeletal state, Ishaqbini Hirola Conservancy rangers said Tuesday.
The giraffe mother and her young were killed by poachers, they said. The Kenyan Wildlife Service was called to the reserve after it was reported that giraffes had been seen for a long time.
Upon finding the bones, wildlife officials estimated that they had been there for at least four months.
“This is a very sad day for the community of Ijara and Kenya as a whole. We are the only community in the world that guards white giraffes, ”said Mohammed Ahmednoor, reserve manager in Garissa County, Kenya, in a press release.
They described the murder as "a blow to the tremendous steps taken by the community to conserve rare and unique species," as well as "a wake-up call for continued support for conservation efforts."
There is only one white giraffe left, one male.
The Kenya Wildlife Service is investigating the incident.
The female of the white giraffe made the news for the first time when it was discovered, together with her young, in 2017.
A second calf followed, and the family of three lived a free life within the confines of the sanctuary, where they generated a lot of interest from tourists from all over the world.
The visitors flocked to see the family of three, which extended to see behind the trees. The giraffe video posted on YouTube accumulated more than a million views. They were presented in USA Today, The Guardian, Inside Edition and National Geographic, among other media.
“This is a long-term loss since genetic studies and research that were a significant investment in the area by researchers have now gone to the drain. In addition, the white giraffe was a great boost for tourism in the area, ”said Ahmednoor.
The animals got their unique coloration from a condition known as leucism, which is a genetic condition that makes giraffe skin cells unable to produce pigmentation. That results in a white, pale or irregular coloration of your skin.
Unlike albinism, animals with leucism continue to produce a dark pigment in their soft tissue, which means that the giraffe's eyes were dark.
The tallest land animal in the world has lost 40% of its population in just 30 years due to poaching and wildlife trafficking, estimates the African Wildlife Foundation.
LOOK: Giraffes face a silent extinction
Although the Kenya Wildlife Service said that rare animals were the only three white giraffes left in the world, another known white giraffe was seen in Tarangire National Park in Tanzania in January 2016.
It is not immediately known what happened to that animal.
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