A spot-free giraffe sounds like a character from a children’s book, not something you’d see in real life. But one has just arrived: in late July, a baby reticulated giraffe was born at the Brights Zoo in Tennessee with completely solid brown fur—without a single spot. Zoo staff say the calf is likely one of a kind. Spotless reticulated giraffes are extremely rare; according to experts, there are no other known examples of this species without spots anywhere on Earth.
David Bright, the zoo director, told ScienceAlert that the zoo contacted zoo professionals across the country the day the calf was born, and none were aware of a similar case in recent years. There are historical reports of a spot-free reticulated giraffe born in captivity in Japan during the 1970s, but no photographs of that animal have surfaced online.
The spots on a giraffe act as camouflage. The characteristic patterns on the dark fur of a reticulated giraffe are not random; they are inherited from the mother. These patterns help the animals hide from predators, so individuals born without spots may struggle to conceal themselves in the wild. One study found that giraffe calves with larger, irregularly shaped spots have better survival chances after a few months of life. That finding was a correlation, and spotted patterns may also play roles in visual communication or temperature regulation. Given those risks, a spot-free reticulated giraffe will likely fare better in captivity.
Just a few weeks after its birth, the calf has already grown to 1.8 meters tall. As for a name, the zoo staff is working on selecting one. They narrowed it down to four Swahili options: Kipekee, meaning “unique”; Firayali, meaning “unusual”; Shakiri, meaning “she is the most beautiful”; and Jamella, meaning “one extraordinarily beautiful.” The zoo has asked the public to help choose the final name.
Bright hopes the recent media coverage of the spot-free giraffe will draw much-needed attention to giraffe conservation. For decades, giraffes have been moving toward “quiet extinction,” primarily due to unchecked habitat loss, civil unrest, and poaching. Over the past 30 years, giraffe populations in Africa have plummeted by 40%, leaving only 16,000 reticulated giraffes. Ironically, giraffes—the tallest mammals on Earth—were previously overlooked: until 2016, researchers did not recognize four distinct subspecies. So the calf born in Tennessee may be unique — and the giraffe lineage as a whole is remarkable.
