That’s the thing. There are maybe a handful of purebred Roth/Nubian or reticulated animals left in all of North America. The population is and has been largely hybridized for a long time. Zoos can’t just decide to have purebred Roth/Nubians or retics instead of generics or Masai because there aren’t any. The Masai population is the only purebred population. As a giraffe keeper and giraffe fanatic, I am by no means a proponent of the hybrid population (it absolutely pains me that we only have purebred Masai in North America); however, to claim that the hybrid population is less healthy/prone to birth defects/complications is simply not true whatsoever. The hybrid population is much healthier than the Masai population because the genetic diversity is so much greater— you are pulling from two different gene pools and an astronomically larger population. The Masai population has a tiny founder base, and as a result, the Masai population really struggles with high infant mortality, difficultly calving, and general health complications that are not seen in the generic population.
