The world’s only known currently existing spotless giraffe was born last month at a locally owned zoo in Tennessee. The last known fully brown coated giraffe was Toshiko who was born back in 1972 in Tokyo. The giraffe’s existence was released to the public a month after its birth because the zoo needed to make sure the giraffe would stay in a healthy condition.
There have been oddly colored giraffes born in the past, such as giraffes with fully white coats. These giraffes reportedly lived long healthy lives for giraffes, which is between 25-30 years.
However, the public has grown concerned about this giraffe’s future health even though it’s been alive and thriving for a while now. The concerns stem from the fact that the spots on giraffes are supposed to help them camouflage in the wild, but also to help them regulate their temperatures. But even with the giraffe’s weird pattern, the giraffe is healthy and thriving
The giraffe was born from a mother that comes from an endangered species of giraffe, a reticulated giraffe. This could be the link as to why the giraffe born from her has a full coat of brown, but most likely that isn’t what’s happening. Fred Bercovitch, wildlife biologist at Kyoto University, claims that the animal’s color is most likely caused by a genetic mutation, no link whatsoever with the mother being an endangered species.
“She stays very tight with her mom,” David Bright, the zoo’s director, explained. “She has a very positive personality when it comes to giraffes,” David Bright continued, “she’s very curious about what’s going on around her”. The giraffe is a special little miracle that this local zoo got to experience and they hope to learn more about her existence in the near future.
