Meet Omo , the super rare white giraffe named after a pop detergent brand .
These photograph were taken by Dr. Derek Lee , an ecologist and founder of theWild Nature Institute ( WNI ) .
He initially date the rarefied giraffe calflast yearin Tarangire National Park , Tanzania , and was prosperous enough to foil route with her again this month . On theWNI blog , he report that the Giraffa camelopardalis come along to be doing well .
Dr. Lee plump on to explain that Omo has a genetic condition called leucism , not albinism .
“ Leucism is when some or all pigment prison cell ( that make color ) flunk to explicate during differentiation , so part or all of the consistency control surface lacks cells adequate to of have pigment , ” hesaid . “ One way to say the dispute between albino and leucistic creature is that albino somebody lack melanin everywhere , including in the eyes , so the result eye color is blood-red from the implicit in line vessels . "
Omo , the leucistic giraffe , roaming around Tarangire National Park . Image credit : Derek Lee / Caters News
The female giraffe is around 15 calendar month old , meaning she has develop past her vulnerable metre as a sura when lions and hyenas can easily raven on her . However , Dr. Lee has monish that her threats now derive in the form of poaching and hunt .
Speaking to IFLScience , Dr. Lee said : " Being so smart and visible could be a disadvantage when hunted by visual predators like humans . However , many poachers use leg and neck snares which are indiscriminate killers .
" It is illegal to defeat camelopard in Tanzania , as it is the national animal , but illegal mart hunting for center is well known to be rearing around Tarangire , " he added . " Unfortunately all giraffes , not just the white ones like Omo , are threatened by bushmeat poaching .
" as luck would have it , Omo lives in a home park where our inquiry found she has the highest chance of survival thanks to anti - poaching feat in the arena . "
