See 10 animals born with rare body color mutations
If there's one thing we've gotten used to, it's the colors of animals. For example, everyone knows that penguins are black and white, just like pandas. Zebras are striped and elephants are gray, aren't they? Well, in the natural world there are also exceptions, and there are some animals that happen to be unlucky or lucky to be born in different colors from the original, making them extremely rare.
In most cases, changes in the hair do not make any difference, but in others the modifications can become a real drawback by drawing more attention. See some examples of these eccentricities below:
1 - Brown Panda Bear
We all know the pandas (at least from photos), like the nice oriental bears of white and black fluff. However, in the Qinling region of China, there are some pandas that are brown, with softer hairs where normally the hair should be white. They are rare, but five brown pandas have been seen in the region, and have been observed since 1985 - but there may be more. In 2005, scientists declared brown pandas as a subspecies of pandas.
2 - Black Penguin
Penguins can vary considerably in appearance as there are a total of 17 species of these animals on the planet. However, they follow a very common pattern: black and white, with some yellow tints on the top of the head. Knowing this, when a National Geographic photographer spotted an all-black penguin, he soon decided to record the event. According to biologists, such a view was extremely rare. The penguin in question has melanism, which makes overproduction of melanin make it darker.
3 - Venus, the chimeric cat
Probably one of the most bizarre examples on this list is the cat Venus. Its face is practically split in half, with two very opposite colors, and each eye also has different colors (one is blue and the other is green). In the body, the hair does not divide as precisely as in the head, becoming more mixed. No one can tell why Venus is the way she is, she was simply born that way. Probably, the kitten has gone through chimerism - a phenomenon that occurs when two embryos fuse in the womb and create only one being.
4 - Zebra with melanism
Like the all-black penguin, zebras have also been spotted that also have excess melanism - which has made their typical stripes merge and not be so visible. Although more common in zebras than in penguins, this is still a rare phenomenon. However, zebras with marked melanism tend to live less than other zebras because they are considered more fragile. All zebras have unique stripes, which create a kind of identity among animals and serve as identification, something that does not occur with zebras with melanism.
5 - The white zebra
This is a famous case of melanin shortage that occurred with Zebra Zoe, which currently lives in a zoo in Hawaii. Its stripes are whiter since birth, as the black here is almost nonexistent, and the eyes of the animal are also white and the mane is almost beige. The result is this very rare and beautiful animal.
6 - Albino Kangaroo
The eastern gray kangaroo is one of the largest species of marsupials in the world, measuring up to 2.10 meters and weighing over 50 pounds. Like all albinos, albino kangaroos of this species are quite rare, but one specimen has been spotted in Namadgi National Park in eastern Australia. It is believed to be a female kangaroo, named Renée and with very red eyes. Unfortunately, albino kangaroos are easy prey for foxes and other predators, as well as being more susceptible to skin cancer and sunburn.
7 - American Lobster
Like the Venus kitten, fishermen have found a lobster that has very different shades and is clearly divided. Typically, these crustaceans have a brown hue, turning more orange when cooked. However, this was not the case with a lobster caught in the United States, which appeared to be half cooked, one side brown and one orange. Half-and-half lobsters are very rare and biologists estimate that there are one in 50 million animals of the species.
8 - Tiger with melanism
As with zebras, tigers that have melanism are not entirely black, but they have the streaks affected - they get wider and are much easier to spot in the wild. Instead of the stripes being yellow or gold, they are black and very strong in tone. Apparently, tigers suffering from melanism have no disadvantage compared to normal tigers, as the individuals found were as strong as ordinary tigers.
9 - White Deer
During World War II, miles of the Seneca Depot region of the United States were completely enclosed with bars. Several white deer eventually came within the boundaries of the division and developed there, becoming the largest population of mutant animals living in a single habitat.
White deer correspond to 25% of the 800 deer that live within the boundary of the depot, and are not a species of their own, but are a variation of the deer in the region. They suffer from leukism, which causes the body hair to have no pigment, but the eyes are brown, as with other deer - if they were albino, the eyes would be red (as is the case with the kangaroo already listed).
10 - Albino Elephant
Albino elephants also exist, although they are not entirely white as with other species of animals. They are a lighter gray and in some cases a little pinkish - not so rare mutation in African elephants. In countries like Myanmar and Thailand, these rarities are considered sacred and are spared any work. Beliefs there say that finding a white elephant along the way means that the rulers of the country or region govern with justice and power.
