A giraffe in Kenya has developed a skin condition that has never been witnessed before in his kind.

According to Zoe Muller, a biologist who has been documenting the unique case of the giraffe for almost seven years now, the male giraffe living in the Soysambu Conservancy, Kenya is the first wild giraffe to be diagnosed with vitiligo, a skin condition characterized by white patches on the skin.

Muller first visited the Conservancy in 2009. After taking photos of the giraffe, she noticed something strange about the giraffe's color.

"I first started to see a few white spots appear on the animal's coat back in November 2009, and was puzzled as I had never seen this before," Muller told New Scientist. "There have been a few reports of white giraffes before in the wild, but those animals are either albino or leucistic, which means they are born white and have been that way for their entire life," she added.

Early this year, a leucistic giraffe made headlines after being spotted in Tarangire National Park in Tanzania. Leucism is usually common in birds but is extremely rare in giraffes.

Mother Nature Work defines leucism as a genetic condition whrein partial loss of pigmentation occurs. In turn, it can give the animal white or patchily colored skin, hair and feathers, among others. Unlike albinism, the pigment cells in the eyes are not affected by the condition.

The giraffe in the Kenyan conservatory is very much different. Muller suspects that a certain virus caused the skin disease.

"I noticed the giraffe would engage in excessive scratching. He would position himself in a thick bush, and rock backwards and forwards for thirty minutes or so, scratching his head and neck area," she said.

The white spots has increased since she first saw the giraffe which means it could probably lose its whole color as years go by.

The cause of vitiligo is not known, but it may be an autoimmune disease. Vitiligo Zone said in a report that the same skin condition has been reported among some species of domestic and wild animals, such as buffalo, horses and dogs.

The findings have been published in the African Journal of Ecology.

Tags Giraffe, skin condition, vitiligo, animals, wildlife

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