Tennessee Zoo’s Rare Spotless Giraffe Finally Has A Name!

Brights Zoo has announced the winning moniker for the exceptional youngster.

The people have spoken!

After nearly 40,000 votes, the rare spotless giraffe born in Tennessee on July 31 finally has a name. Officials at the Brights Zoo in Limestone revealed on Today Tuesday that online voters had chosen the name Kipekee for the 5-week-old female giraffe.

"For a lot of guests we talked to, that was the easiest name for a child to say," David Bright, the director of Brights Zoo, explained.

Kipekee, which is the Swahili word for "unique," reportedly received just over 16,000 votes, edging out the roughly 10,000 votes for Shakiri, which means “she is most beautiful.” The other two options included Firyali, the Swahili word for "unusual or extraordinary" and Jamella, meaning "one of great beauty."

According to the zoo, Kipekee is the only solid-colored reticulated giraffe on the planet. The last recorded spotless giraffe was born in 1972 in Tokyo.

"She's still very laid back, curious about everything, and checking everything out every day," Bright told Today, adding that Kipekee is already six-feet tall.

Brights Zoo is hoping that the media coverage surrounding their extraordinary giraffe will help “bring attention to the serious challenges the rest of her species face in the wild.”

“The international coverage of our patternless baby giraffe has created a much-needed spotlight on giraffe conservation,” Bright said in a statement shortly after Kipekee’s birth. “Wild populations are silently slipping into extinction, with 40% of the wild giraffe population lost in just the last three decades.”

For more information, including viewing times, visit www.brightszoo.com/rare-patternless-giraffe.

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