On March 10th the loss of two incredibly rare organisms was reported by WAN.  two white giraffes, a mother and calf pair, were found dead. Their states were that of just their skeletal structure due to the armed poachers responsible, told to them by the locals around through images that were sent of the giraffes’ states.

Those in the communities around were incredibly sad as they work incredibly hard to help in conservation of animals like the giraffes of which were more special than most may realize, due to the fact that their condition was leucism which unlike albinoism, which is what most people would probably guess, it still produces dark pigmentation but only on the soft tissue so it it isn’t as apparent. The two being found killed by poachers is a massive blow to what can be discovered about the animals, and leaves a lone bull giraffe as the last one with such a condition that makes it appear white in coloration.

The deaths disrupted what could be discovered about things like giraffe behavior, as the white giraffes gave more potential variables for how other giraffes may interact with them, treated them and lived with them as well as how they themselves survived with their coloration, avoiding predators that would openly target the calf seeing how well the mother could defend it, and if they had more time alive it could be seen if they could both possibly survive better than the giraffes with normal coloration, or worse, but because of this tragedy anything in this vein of knowledge regarding them is now unattainable. Now, like the surrounding community, the world has lost a vector of potential science that would have been useful to further conservation of other creatures like them instead of just being an example of the holes in the protection that they have, even though it is a good thing to know and to use in the future to protect other animals.

Luckily the loss of such magnificent creatures is still something that can be learned from for conservation, in order to prevent as much poaching as possible in the area and surrounding areas, especially since the poachers that do this are usually armed and are very dangerous, to not just the animals but anyone trying to help the animals or protecting them since they only care about killing the animals to get trophies and things to sell at a high price for its rarity.