• We have updated the guidelines regarding posting political content: please see the stickied thread on Website Issues.

Albino & Leucistic Animals (Pigmentation Deficiency)

A

Anonymous

Guest
White Elephants

[edit: I have now made this a general thread for tales of albino or white creatures.]

Breaking News on the home page has an article about a new White Elephant being found in Thailand. Never having even seen a picture of one I did a search and found this
http://www.mahidol.ac.th/Thailand/glance-thai/elephant.html, a page about Royal Thai elephants.
Must say it is disappointing - they are not white at all, just a lighter shade of grey. I don't really understand how this can be 'albino', compared to other albino creatures which tend to be pure white.
I was wondering if anyone on the board has seen a white elephant in real life?
 
Well, when PT Barnum sold off a white elephant that was actually pink, he defended himself with that caucasians are also called white.
 
White Whale?

In early June, 1985, I was sailing south across the Bay of Biscay. I was alone on watch, my only crew was sleeping below. It was a fine clear day, and I saw a disturbance in the water perhaps 200m away. Then a small white whale jumped clear of the water!

In shape it resembled a porpoise, but it was clearly much larger. It jumped out of the water a few more times, and I called for my crew to come and see, but he only arrived in time to see the last splash settling, as the whale had now disappeared.

Later I looked up some books to see if I could identify it. It very closely resembled a Beluga - but there were 2 problems with this. It seems that beluga are an arctic species, never seen so far south, and they do not jump out of the water.

So did I see an out-of-place, extra-athletic beluga, or a king-size albino dolphin - or what?

Any ideas?
 
On this side of the Atlantic, belugas come as far south as the Gulf of St. Lawrence. But they are usually seen in groups, and I've never heard of one jumping. They are one of the slower swimming whales.

Then of course there's this Beluga.
 
naitaka said:
On this side of the Atlantic, belugas come as far south as the Gulf of St. Lawrence. But they are usually seen in groups, and I've never heard of one jumping. They are one of the slower swimming whales.

Then of course there's this Beluga.

I like the pic - surprising similar!

Although the Gulf of St.Lawrence is a similar latitude to the Bay of Biscay, it's much warmer this side of the Atlantic because of Ocean currents, so what you say confirms the idea that beluga are a cold water species.
 
TV Today:

ITV, 1830-1930:
Survival Special on whales of the arctic, including belugas. Watch out for any jumping ones!
(This prog. is a repeat.)
 
White whale returns (with pic)
HE is the great white whale. In myth – and in reality – he would once have been the first shot by hunters because of his striking colour.

Today, he inspires fierce scientific competition – if for nothing else than out of rivalry between researchers who all want to claim to have seen him first.

Yesterday, they got their chance.

A young albino humpback whale that has made mysterious appearances along the NSW coast for the past 10 years resurfaced again off Tweed Heads.

Sightings have been few and far between. Yesterday was the first time in three years that the whale had been spotted. Before that it was in 1998 and earlier in 1996 off Sydney that it was last seen.

"All of us involved in the seas have grown up with the tale of Moby Dick," Southern Cross University's Whale Research Centre head Dr David Lloyd said.

"And so you see this great white whale and it is so distinct and it is quite exciting.

"We have competitions for the first to see it. It still captures our imagination as researchers."

Wayne Marsh of Spirit of the Sea cruises said the animal put on a dramatic show to announce his return.

"[He] was like a stage actor that knew [he] was on centre stage," he said.

"There were 15 other whales with [him] and they moved out of the way and let [him] perform."

Identifying marks on the 30-tonne animal's fluke have confirmed the young male adult is the same animal from previous sightings.

Its albinism is caused by the same process as in other animals – a genetic flaw that prevents it from producing skin pigments.

But researchers are still uncertain as to whether it would be more prone to skin cancer, as are other mammals with the same features.

Sightings from the Cape Byron research station show an increase in the number of whales this year but Sydney has experienced a drop of 350 so far.

"This suggests several things," National Parks and Wildlife Service wildlife manager Geoff Luscombe said.

"They may have chosen different pathways or just moved more offshore.

"Sea temperatures in Sydney have been warm in-shore this year."

Mr Luscombe said he last saw the white whale in 1996 off Cape Solander.

"It certainly is elusive. We have been looking for it," he said.

"Albinism is rare in nature because it is a genetic variant."

The white whale is heading north up the Queensland coast on its annual migration.

"We had an observation a couple of years ago but it has been five years since I have seen it," Dr Lloyd said.

"We are confident it is the same animal.

"We are interested to get DNA from loose skin it may leave in the water so we can keep a reference. By that we can see if he has any breeding success.

"I still get a buzz out of seeing it.

"In the old days of whaling he would have been the first one targeted. He simply stands out in a crowd."

Researchers know it is a male as they are the only ones that sing.

The whale was last sighted off Moreton Island near Brisbane three years ago.

"It's an amazing experience," Mr Marsh said. "Every time there was applause on the boat [he] took another curtain call and splashed [his] tail."
 
Mind you, Great White Sharks only breach in one particular area (a bay somewhere off Spain isn't it?) - so maybe Belugas do the same?
 
The Albino Catfish Nobody Wanted...

I'm not even sure this is a 'Fortean News Story, but there's something about this, taken all-together, that just doesn't seem to add up. Or at least reads very disjointedly.-lopaka
--------------------------------------------------------------
--------------------------------------------------------------

Florida anglers couldn't find museum, aquarium to take albino catfish

By Don Wilson - The Orlando Sentinel

Sunday, April 4, 2004

Some people put rubber duckies in their bathtubs, others floating aromatherapy candles.

For two days, James A. Holt had a catfish in the guest bathtub of his Orlando home.

It wasn't just any catfish but what they thought was a rare, born-in-the-wild, albino channel catfish 27 inches long -- one worth saving from its most serious predator: man.

Albino catfish are rare in the wild because they stand out in a lake like a halogen spotlight. Usually they're eaten by something larger before they grow more than a few inches.

The Holts' efforts to find it a safe haven were fruitless. And, just maybe, unnecessary.

Holt's son, James R. Holt, caught the fish in the small lake that borders his dad's back yard.

The younger Holt, 16, is a catfish fancier and has six tropical species, including an albino channel cat, among the other tropicals in his nine aquariums.

When he saw the fish, his first thought was to save it.

"He was swimming all around the surface eating all kinds of things, so I cast out a line with a piece of bologna on it and he bit," he said. "I didn't want to see him become a dinner. . . . This is the biggest one I've ever seen."

While the fish swam in a bathtub filled with lake water oxygenated by six battery-powered bait-bucket aerators, the elder Holt started phoning places such as SeaWorld and Bass Pro Shops Outdoor World to find the fish a safe haven in an aquarium large enough to give it at least a sense of freedom.

"Nobody returned my calls," the elder Holt said.

The chances of an albino born in the wild, experts say, are so remote that the Holts' fish probably was produced by a fish farm and stocked in the lake.

The Holts decided they had no choice. The fish had to go back into the lake and take its chances on landing on someone's dinner plate.

Ironically, that's probably the only reason it was born.

"Most likely it came from a fish farm," said Frank Chapman, a professor of fish biology at the University of Florida. "They sell them to these places where you pay to catch your own fish."

Or it could have been an aquarium fish that was dumped into the lake.

Copyright © 2004 The Lawrence Journal-World. All rights reserved.
 
What do you call a zebra with no stripes?

Now I would have assumed it would be a horse but clearly not ;)

Stripeless zebra baffles experts

Updated 13 April 2004, 14.54


An all-white zebra has been discovered in Kenya, Africa, and wildlife experts don't know why it's got no stripes.

Paul Gaithu, from Nairobi National Park said: "We don't have any records of ever having seen one like this before."

The little zebra, who's only a calf, will be left with its parents to grow up, while vets try to figure out why it's such an unusual shade.

Mr Gaithu said: "We are monitoring it every day. We hope that it will grow to an adult zebra that we can see."

The stripeless zebra seems to be fitting in well with his black and white friends.

Lots of zebras have recently arrived in the park with the annual migration, but it's thought that the unusual calf was born there.

Some types of zebras are endangered, as they are hunted for their meat and skins.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/cbbcnews/hi/animals/newsid_3622000/3622713.stm

Emps
 
An all-white zebra has been discovered in Kenya, Africa, and wildlife experts don't know why it's got no stripes.

Is it my imagination, but is that rather poor grammar (especially for a kid's site)...?
 
If you look at the photo it does have stripes, just very faint grey ones instead of the normal black ones. Looks like a similar mutation to the ones which cause different colour phases in the cat family, eg. ginger domestic cats, black leopards or white tigers. I think it's http://www.messybeast.com that has a lot of info about coat colour mutations.
 
Maybe it's an omen...along the lines of the White Buffalo??:heh:
 
Goldstein said:
If you look at the photo it does have stripes, just very faint grey ones instead of the normal black ones. Looks like a similar mutation to the ones which cause different colour phases in the cat family, eg. ginger domestic cats, black leopards or white tigers. I think it's http://www.messybeast.com that has a lot of info about coat colour mutations.

Ahhh I found this on solid or self cats on that site:

http://www.messybeast.com/self-solid.htm

There is video of the little fella here:

http://www.local6.com/news/2999935/detail.html

Emps
 
White Wallaby Wastes Away

Centre's rare white wallaby dies

A rare albino wallaby adopted by a rescue centre after he was abandoned by his mother has died.

The unusual animal was taken in by staff at the Secret World centre in East Huntspill, Somerset, seven years ago and reared in a rucksack.

Named Mr Woo, he became a celebrity, appearing on television shows such as Blue Peter and on the Disney Channel.

But on Thursday, workers discovered he had suffered a badly fractured leg, and despite treatment, could not save him.

It is not known how Mr Woo, who at one stage lived in the kitchen at the rescue centre with seven roe deer, was injured

"We are all devastated," said Pauline Kidner, founder of the charity.

"He was such a special creature who was so gentle and affectionate to everyone. He will be buried in the front garden so that he will always be near us."

Story from BBC NEWS:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/pr/fr/-/1/hi/england/somerset/3675073.stm

Published: 2004/05/01 13:11:51 GMT

© BBC MMIV
 
May he rest in peace along with the baby wallaby who was killed at Dudley Zoo by a group of under-11s recently.

:cross eye
 
RIP, indeed.

San Francisco Zoo seems to have a few albino wallabies. I have some pictures of them somewhere.

(To think I travelled that far to visit a friend, and we went to the Zoo to look at their Australian animals. Still, we had a good laugh at the aquarium's Bearded Dragon. To think people find something that common exotic.)
 
White buffalo

White bison born near Flagstaff

Bob Golfen
The Arizona Republic
May. 24, 2004 12:00 AM

The owners of a small bison herd near Flagstaff were surprised Saturday morning to find one of their rare white buffaloes had given birth to something even rarer: a white calf.

A white calf is a one-in-10 million occurrence, said Keith Davis, a spokesman for Spirit Mountain Ranch.

"This is so rare specifically because she was born white," Davis said. "The others were born red (like normal buffaloes) and turned white."

The birth of a white bison is meaningful for many Native American tribes, especially Plains Indians such as the Lakota, who consider it a symbol of rebirth when the world's people are in troubled times.

"The white buffalo is such a phenomenon because they are so rare," said Dena Riley, who owns the ranch with her husband, Jim.

None of her buffaloes is albino but rather a mutation of the usual fur color of dark brown to black, Riley said. Of 11 bison on the ranch, four are white, not including the newborn.

The animals on the ranch are also pure bison, proven by DNA testing at a California lab, she added, and not a mix of bison and cattle, known as beefalo. That mixture more often results in white offspring, she said.

The ranch was moved onto its 5-acre site near the San Francisco Peaks in December 2001, Riley said, and has had visitors from around the globe to see white bison.

http://www.azcentral.com/news/articles/0524buffalo24.html
 
Is THis The Same or A Competing White Buffalo?

The Legend

The Legend of the White Buffalo

One summer a long time ago, the seven sacred council fires of the Lakota Sioux came together and camped. The sun was strong and the people were starving for there was no game.

Two young men went out to hunt. Along the way, the two men met a beautiful young woman dressed in white who floated as she walked. One man had bad desires for the woman and tried to touch her, but was consumed by a cloud and turned into a pile of bones.

The woman spoke to the second young man and said, "Return to your people and tell them I am coming." This holy woman brought a wrapped bundle to the people. She unwrapped the bundle giving to the people a sacred pipe and teaching them how to use it to pray. "With this holy pipe, you will walk like a living prayer," she said. The holy woman told the Sioux about the value of the buffalo, the women and the children. "You are from Mother Earth," she told the women, "What you are doing is as great as the warriors do."

Before she left, she told the people she would return. As she walked away, she rolled over four times, turning into a white female buffalo calf. It is said after that day the Lakota honored their pipe, and buffalo were plentiful. (from John Lame Deer's telling in 1967).

Many believe that the buffalo calf, Miracle, born August 20, 1994 symbolizes the coming together of humanity into a oneness of heart, mind, and spirit.


White Buffalo - The Charles Bronson Jaws Rip-Off (Pretty Good)
 
Mr. R.I.N.G. said:

Well, on that link is gives the date of birth as August 1994, so not the same buffalo as the newly reported one. But I seem to remember there was another white buffalo calf born just a couple of years ago as well. Are there more white buffalo calves being born, or are these memorable occurences merely being more widely reported?
 
Delbert said:
Well, on that link is gives the date of birth as August 1994, so not the same buffalo as the newly reported one. But I seem to remember there was another white buffalo calf born just a couple of years ago as well. Are there more white buffalo calves being born, or are these memorable occurences merely being more widely reported?
I think what was supposed to make the Buffalo in the above link the prophetic calf was her color changes (White-Black-Red-Yellow) not just her birth color. I thought the prophesy said she had to go back to white eventually, but maybe I'm misremembering.
 
Friday, April 30, 2004

From Left Field


'He looked like a big white tree limb'

Imagine looking for a four-foot snake and finding one that's eight feet-plus in length.

Or, imagine taking a leislurely stroll with four children and discovering an eight-foot python sitting along a trail!

When someone called the sheriff's department last Saturday afternoon and said they had seen a snake near the covered bridge east of Ceylon, deputies Larry Butler Jr. and Shane Rekeweg, along with Reserve Deputy Greg Logan, were sent to the scene.

No one had any idea of the "adventure" about to unfold.

"Some guy (and four children) were walking along a trail near the bridge, saw it (the snake) and called the department," Logan said later. "He described it as about four feet long and brown, and we just thought it was a big brown snake.

"So the three of us went down there to get it, but we couldn't find anything. We were just about ready to leave when I saw it. 'Here it is,' I remember yelling.

"I'll tell you, he was a lot bigger than four feet. He looked like a big white tree limb lying there," Logan said.

He, or it, was lots bigger than four feet, alright. In fact, the Albino Burmese Python was approximately eight feet, two inches in length.

(Continued from page 1A)

"He was moving a little bit, but sort of like he didn't know what was going on; it may have been the cold," Logan recalled. "The other guys didn't want anything to do with it, but I put a thing on its head and grabbed it by the neck, then told them to help me put it in a sack.

"They didn't especially want to touch it. Butler told me to put my (bulletproof) vest on, so then if it would start to wrap around me, he could shoot it," Logan laughed. "After we got it in the sack, we washed and disinfected our hands."

Butler isn't bashful about telling you his feelings. "I'm not a big snake fan. I grew up around Decatur and haven't seen many snakes. I was the last one to touch it. I wasn't really up for it (handling the snake).

"Greg got this thing on its head and said, 'Okay, who's gonna pick up the tail end?' I looked at Shane and said, 'Not me!'

Butler also admitted that had he been alone when it was found, the snake no doubt wouldn't have survived. "I've got to say, had I been by myself, I probably would have shot it.

"We were creeping along the woods, like the Crocodile Hunter," the deputy laughed. "All of a sudden, Greg started yelling, 'Here it is! Here it is!'"

Could have been bigger

The snake was eventually turned over to a man in the Magley area who once had more than 100 snakes of his own.

"I think someone probably just dumped it there (in the covered bridge area)" Logan said. "It probably got too big so it was just dumped; I imagine he would eat quite a bit.

"You could tell he was used to being handled, or he was just slowed by the cold. He had a scab on his head so I don't know if maybe a dog got him or what."

The man who took in the snake told Butler that, in fact, the snake may well have spent the winter there. "He said it was malnourished, that there was a good chance it had crawled in a hole and stayed there all winter," Butler explained.

"It was about four feet around, but the guy said had it been fed properly, it would have been eight feet around."

Geneva Marshall Rob Johnson agrees that the snake had in all likelihood been someone's pet. "Someone definitely turned it loose, and I don't think it had been out there too long," Johnson said. "It was a cold and windy day and he couldn't have been out there too long or he would have been dead.

"We have some ideas on where he might have come from."

For all the jokes, all the laughs attached to the incident, Butler offered a thoughtful, somber point: "You know, a lot of people fish in that area; some let their kids run in the woods. We just can't have something like that (python) around. I mean, little kids ... think about it."

Burmese a popular pet

The Burmese Python originates from Burma, Vietnam and Thailand, These days, virtually every Burmese in the pet trade is captive bred, according to information found on a Web site.

In fact, one provider of information said the Burmese may be the closest a person can come to truthfully labeling a species of snake as domesticated.

The species comes in numerous colors and patterns and ranges in price from about to several hundred thousand dollars for the newest mutation.

The Burmese is described on this Web site as "calm and friendly, eats like a pig, is easy to breed and beautiful to look at. "

But the biggest drawback, it adds, is the snake's size. Given time and plenty of food, the Burmese, especially females, will routinely reach 17 to 18 feet in length and weigh over 200 pounds. Males normally end up in the 9- to 12-foot range.

http://www.decaturdailydemocrat.com/articles/2004/04/30/news/opinion/editorial01.txt
 
Last edited by a moderator:
White croc tale makes jaws drop

May 28, 2004


FOLLOWING in the watery wake of Migaloo the white whale, Queensland may now have an albino crocodile.

Rangers have had a report of one at a creek at Sarina, near Mackay.

Queensland Parks and Wildlife Service senior ranger Tim Holmes was sceptical. "True albinism is unlikely given that only a small percentage of normal-coloured crocodiles survive - a white crocodile would be less likely to survive in the wild to adulthood as it's more venerable to predators," he said.

Mr Holmes said albino crocodiles or ones with no markings had been recorded in captivity.

He said light reflecting from the skin could have made a crocodile appear to be albino - "or maybe a covering of pale mud gave the impression of a white animal".

Mr Holmes urged people not to court danger by attempting to find the crocodile.

He said everyone needed to be croc-wise in croc country.

"People should not be complacent or put themselves at risk."

Croc-wise guidelines:

* Camp at least 50m away from the water's edge.

* Launch and retrieve boats without entering the water.

* Dispose of fish frames and bait away from the water's edge.

* Don't swim - or even paddle - in crocodile country.

http://www.news.com.au/common/story_page/0,4057,9678475%5E13762,00.html?name=otherside
 
Stripeless zebra

I'm also disturbed that they refer to the baby zebra as a calf--no, equids have foals. :rolleyes:

I have a somewhat peculiar hobby, if you could call it that: equine colour genetics. FWIW there is no albinism in horses. (dunno about zebras though)
 
Move to Iowa Turns Albino Alligator Pink

Mon May 31, 7:42 AM ET


DES MOINES, Iowa - An albino alligator became so excited when he got to Iowa, he turned pink.


That's according to officials at Blank Park Zoo, who got the 8-foot-long reptile on Thursday for an exhibit of albino animals.

"Albino alligators turn pink with excitement as they adjust to their new environment," said David Allen, the zoo's director. "We think it'll settle down by the beginning of the week after a little Iowa relaxation."

When zoo officials first got the animal from Florida, they planned to keep it under wraps until its regular complexion returned.

Then, someone realized the marketing potential. Hundreds of schoolchildren packed the zoo Friday to get a peek at "Pinkie," as the zoo's chief executive dubbed the creature.

Zoo officials said most of Pinkie's blush had faded by late Friday, but his face maintained a pink glow. They think that will remain through the weekend.

The display will also include an albino python, catfish, salamander, and a white camel.

http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tm...e=3&u=/ap/20040531/ap_on_fe_st/pink_alligator
 
Wed, June 2, 2004


Albino cub spawns sensation

Amazing rarity

By CHRIS KITCHING, STAFF REPORTER


It's an animal so rare no expert in Manitoba has ever seen one -- an albino black bear cub. Yet there it is wandering the woods and fields near Chemawawin Cree Nation about 400 kilometres northwest of Winnipeg.

"Something like this doesn't come around often," said Keith Klyne, a resident of the reserve who has seen the bear in the flesh. "It was really interesting to see."

Klyne said he saw the snow-white cub walking in a ditch along Highway 60 with its mother -- an adult black bear.

"The mother was eating and the little cub was playing around," he said.

ROAMING

Conservation officials say several people have reported seeing the cub roaming with a pack of black bears near the First Nations community.

The only way to verify it's albino is to capture it, something wildlife agents don't want to do, said Hank Hristienko, the province's black bear expert. It's possible the cub is going through a phase that will turn its white coat black as it gets older, he said.

"Our position is there's nothing to be gained by handling the bear," Hristienko said.

Albinism occurs when a person or animal lacks the pigment melanin, said Assiniboine Park Zoo curator Dr. Bob Wrigley, who has never been up close and personal with an albino black bear.

"Its something I would love to see but I don't expect to because it's that rare," he said.

People hoping to catch a glimpse of the little white bear are flocking to Oscar's Point -- the northern-most point on Lake Winnipegosis -- where the bears have been seen.

Stephanie Thomas, 32, made the trip there from Chemawawin with her six-year-old son, Caillou.

"He was sort of scared of the mother bear but he found the little bear to be really cute," Thomas said. "I thought that momma bear must have been fooling around with a polar bear," she added with a laugh.

Because it's such a rare find, residents of the community fear someone will harm the cub, which has become a quasi-celebrity, Thomas said.

"We don't want anyone to shoot the bear," she said. "They should pull out a camera instead."

http://www.canoe.ca/NewsStand/WinnipegSun/News/2004/06/02/482393.html
 
Back
Top