Search on for Kenya's missing giraffes

Wildlife officials in Kenya are trying to trace two rare white giraffes, a mother and a calf, last spotted in the north-eastern county of Garissa, amid concern that they could have been killed.

“We can only confirm they are dead when we spot the carcasses. The area is quite expansive and they roam freely,” Kenya Wildlife Service (KWS) spokesperson Ngugi Gecaga told the BBC.

The manager of the Ishaqbini-Hirola Community Conservancy, where the giraffes used to roam, has told the BBC a search party located the carcasses at a village in Masalani district on Tuesday.

He said the carcasses had signs of gunshot wounds.

Mr Abdi added that the two giraffes had not been seen for nearly three months, which he said was because of the heavy rains in the area which rendered roads impassable.

The KWS still needs to confirm these reports.

If confirmed, the death of the two giraffes would leave only one white giraffe in the country - a male calf.

Reports of the possible killing of the giraffes started circulating online on Sunday.

According to National Geographic, white giraffes likely suffer from a genetic condition called leucism, which inhibits pigmentation in skin cells but allows other organs, like eyes, to be dark coloured.

The mother giraffe and the male calf gained popularity in 2017 when video of the sighting was shared online.

The rare and dazzling white giraffe and her calf in Ijara, Garissa County were killed. Some say alShabab killed it for the game meat, others say a neighbouring community from Tana River killed it over conservancy funds brawl. Either way, it's heart-rending that they are no more! pic.twitter.com/pHAPgn1qCo

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