Current:Home > ScamsSpotless giraffe seen in Namibia, weeks after one born at Tennessee zoo -InvestPioneer
Spotless giraffe seen in Namibia, weeks after one born at Tennessee zoo
View
Date:2025-04-16 20:21:33
A rare spotless giraffe was spotted in the wild mere weeks after one was born at a Tennessee zoo, a conservation organization announced in a press release Monday.
The Angolan giraffe was photographed on a private game reserve in central Namibia, according to the Giraffe Conservation Foundation.
In July, a spotless giraffe was born at Brights Zoo in Limestone, Tennessee, in what David Bright, the zoo's director, told "Good Morning America" was "definitely a shock."
MORE: American caver hoisted to safety after 12 days in Turkish cave
Following a naming contest, where the zoo asked the public to name the giraffe, the animal was named Kipekee, which means "unique" in Swahili. Bright said Kipekee is "doing well and growing."
"This is our first one without a pattern," said Bright, who has been the director at the private, family-run zoo for the last two decades.
A reticulated giraffe's spotted pattern typically develops in the womb, so giraffes are usually born with their spots clearly visible, according to Bright.
Giraffes are facing a "silent extinction," the Giraffe Conservation Foundation said in a press release, saying there are only 117,000 wild giraffes in Africa.
MORE: Rare giraffe born without spots gets 'unique' name
"That means that there is only one giraffe for every four African [elephants] remaining in the wild. [Giraffes] have already become extinct in at least seven African countries," the conservation organization said. "And, to make matters even worse for these iconic animals, we now know that there are four distinct species of giraffe in Africa."
Before the spotless giraffe in Namibia and at the zoo in Tennessee, the last recorded brown spotless giraffe was at a zoo in Japan in 1972, according to the Giraffe Conservation Foundation.
veryGood! (18)
Related
- 2025 'Doomsday Clock': This is how close we are to self
- 80-year-old man dies trying to drive through flooded North Carolina road
- Study Finds High Levels of Hydrogen Sulfide in Central Texas Oilfield
- Black Mirror Season 7 Cast Revealed
- IRS recovers $4.7 billion in back taxes and braces for cuts with Trump and GOP in power
- The cause of a fire that injured 2 people at a Louisiana chemical plant remains under investigation
- Zach Bryan apologizes for 'drunkenly' comparing Taylor Swift and Kanye West
- Mohamed Al-Fayed, Late Father of Princess Diana's Former Boyfriend Dodi Fayed, Accused of Rape
- Taylor Swift Eras Archive site launches on singer's 35th birthday. What is it?
- University of Cincinnati provost Valerio Ferme named new president of New Mexico State University
Ranking
- McKinsey to pay $650 million after advising opioid maker on how to 'turbocharge' sales
- Body language experts assess Mike Tyson vs. Jake Paul face-off, cite signs of intimidation
- Prosecutors decline to charge a man who killed his neighbor during a deadly dispute in Hawaii
- Body language experts assess Mike Tyson vs. Jake Paul face-off, cite signs of intimidation
- Taylor Swift Eras Archive site launches on singer's 35th birthday. What is it?
- Hotter summers are making high school football a fatal game for some players
- A new life is proposed for Three Mile Island supplying power to Microsoft data centers
- OPINION: I love being a parent, but it's overwhelming. Here's how I've learned to cope.
Recommendation
Who are the most valuable sports franchises? Forbes releases new list of top 50 teams
'I gotta see him go': Son of murdered South Carolina woman to attend execution
University of Cincinnati provost Valerio Ferme named new president of New Mexico State University
No decision made by appeals court in elections betting case
Stamford Road collision sends motorcyclist flying; driver arrested
Porn-making former University of Wisconsin campus leader argues for keeping his teaching job
Joel Embiid signs a 3-year, $193 million contract extension with the 76ers
A lawsuit challenging a South Dakota abortion rights measure will play out after the election