Albinism is a genetic condition in which animals (or people) are born without pigment (colour) in their bodies. Skin colour is caused by melanin, and animals with albino don’t make enough (or any) melanin – causing their skin and scales to be completely white. Sometimes this makes them look ghostly, but sometimes it makes them look cool and unusual.
Here are 10 amazing and cute albino animals:-
Panda
The biggest news this month is that an albino panda has been spotted! This is the first albino panda to be seen in the wild, and it made news on almost every television channel and website on the internet.
Known for their black and white colouring, panda bears are cute, plump creatures. You would assume that an albino panda might look like a white polar bear, however as you can see – it is pretty obvious from the size and length of the animal that it is a panda. It is unclear whether any greater albino pandas exist in the wild, but the chances are low as the panda population is declining worldwide.
Pinky the Dolphin
Pinky the dolphin is a Louisiana bottlenose dolphin that suffers from albinism. Unlike most other animals on this list – this albino animal is red! Although his albinism is no different from other animals on this list, Pinky is unique because his skin is instead thin, and underneath it are thousands of tiny capillaries. They are so close to the surface of Pinky’s melanin-free skin, making them visible, giving the dolphin this majestic red colour.
Pinky the dolphin was first discovered around 12 years ago. Since then there have been rumours that Pinky has produced babies that also have albinism, although it has not yet been officially confirmed whether or not Pinky has any babies.
White Giraffe
Giraffes usually look very odd with their long necks and leathery feet. Add albinism to the mix and you get an extraordinary creature! The white giraffe pictured above still has visible spots, although over the years several other giraffes with albinism have been seen with completely white skin and no trace of colour.
Moby Dick
The sperm whale from Herman Melville’s famous novel turned out to be white. This means that Moby Dick’s famous sperm whale was likely a whale with albinism. The fact that this massive whale was white makes him unique and, in a way, was the reason for the fanfiction’s protagonist’s obsession with catching this creature. Even though Moby Dick was a fictional whale, he was based on a real albino sperm whale named Mocha Dick. Mocha Dick was killed in 1838. His body was 70 feet long.
Migaloo the Humpback Whale
Mocha wasn’t the last large whale with albinism. Migaloo, a humpback whale with albinism, is the modern-day albino dolphin. It will be thirty years since Migaloo was first sighted, and this whale has been studied and accompanied since 1989. Migaloo is the most important humpback whale with albinism, some of the 35,000 or so who call the Japanese Australian coast domestic. This shows how particular and accurate this sickness is for Migaloo.
Snowflake the Gorilla
From 1966 till 2003, Snowflake the gorilla was housed in a zoo near Barcelona. Captured in Equatorial Guinea in 1966, he became a western lowland gorilla. During his time at the Barcelona Zoo, Snowflake produced 22 unique offspring. However, only six of them survived to adulthood. Albinism itself doesn’t always cause problems, although it is often seen through genetic defects that can cause problems with the healthy functioning of various organs in an animal’s body. Some of these defects can also be passed on to Snowflake’s offspring, drastically reducing their chances of surviving into adulthood.
Penguin Snowdrop
It’s pretty lazy to name animals with albinism, such as “Snowflake,” “Snowdrop,” or “Snowball.” We all know snow is white, but couldn’t zoo keepers and scientists develop a more authentic name? The Snowdrop penguin lived in a zoo in Bristol, England. Her albinism did not affect her ability to be recognized by the rest of the zoo’s penguins, and Snowdrop lived a happy (albeit brief) life with her tuxedo-wearing penguin friends.
Onya-Birri Koala
Onya-Birri was born in 1977 at the San Diego Zoo and caused quite a stir at the time. Onya-Birri’s name is much cooler than Snowdrop and Snowflake. His name among the Aboriginal people was “Ghost Boy” Language. Although any animal can be born with albinism, much like the panda at the beginning of this article – Onya-Birri is the most impressive albinism koala that has been seen.
“Jackie” the Jackdaw
For a while, many who saw this bird were convinced it was just a seagull. However, closer examination determined that it was a jackdaw when suffering from albinism. He was caught in South Wales and named “Jackie” by locals and the scientists who studied him.
Claude the Alligator
Claude the Alligator is my personal favourite famous animal suffering from albinism. Claude is (somewhat) the best-looking of the ten creatures on this list. Claude was born on September 15, 1995. He is now 23 years old. He is a “showcase” at the California Academy of Sciences where he has lived for nearly two decades. His chances of surviving in the wild were metameres, and it would be almost impossible for him to adjust to his environment.