Extremely Rare Baby Albino Elephant Spotted in South African Wildlife Park
By Claire Robinson, writer at The Open Mind
- February 14, 2019
![Extremely Rare Baby Albino Elephant Spotted in South African Wildlife Park CATERS_PINK_ELEPHANT02233-660x330](https://www.the-open-mind.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/02/CATERS_PINK_ELEPHANT02233-660x330.jpg)
Nicki Coertze/ Caters News
The tiny elephant was not too hard to locate once he had been spotted. With his pink skin, he stood out from the rest of the African grey elephants.
Coertze first spotted the pink elephant playing by the water hole together with his mother and family.
![Extremely Rare Baby Albino Elephant Spotted in South African Wildlife Park CATERS_PINK_ELEPHANT022-1024x683](https://www.the-open-mind.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/02/CATERS_PINK_ELEPHANT022-1024x683.jpg)
Nicki Coertze/ Caters News ![Extremely Rare Baby Albino Elephant Spotted in South African Wildlife Park CATERS_PINK_ELEPHANT07-1024x683](https://www.the-open-mind.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/02/CATERS_PINK_ELEPHANT07-1024x683.jpg)
Nicki Coertze/ Caters News ![Extremely Rare Baby Albino Elephant Spotted in South African Wildlife Park CATERS_PINK_ELEPHANT01-1024x683](https://www.the-open-mind.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/02/CATERS_PINK_ELEPHANT01-1024x683.jpg)
Nicki Coertze/ Caters News
Unfortunately, albino wildlife are easy target’s for predators because standing out within their habitat, they struggle to blend into their surroundings.
Dr. Ian Whyte, a Kruger park specialist in large herbivores, told the South African news site that it’s possible they’re more common than we think, but many don’t survive.
”It is unclear whether the calf is a true albino or ‘white’ elephant, but may be what is known as a leucistic animal. A true albino has no protective skin pigment, melanin, and has unpigmented pink eyes and white skin with no markings. A leucistic animal is white, but has dark eyes, and can have some pigmentation, producing ‘ghost’ markings.” – krugerpark.co.za
Even though most albino animals in the wild are cast out, this little fella seemed to have been getting on and fitting in with his family just fine.
Thanks to: https://www.the-open-mind.com
By Claire Robinson, writer at The Open Mind
- February 14, 2019
![Extremely Rare Baby Albino Elephant Spotted in South African Wildlife Park CATERS_PINK_ELEPHANT02233-660x330](https://www.the-open-mind.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/02/CATERS_PINK_ELEPHANT02233-660x330.jpg)
![:copyright: ©️](https://cdn.jsdelivr.net/emojione/assets/png/00a9.png?v=2.2.7)
Nicki Coertze, 58 of age, had spotted a very unusual creature during a visit to the Kruger National Park in South Africa.
Believed to be an albino elephant, this is something you don’t see every day!The tiny elephant was not too hard to locate once he had been spotted. With his pink skin, he stood out from the rest of the African grey elephants.
Coertze first spotted the pink elephant playing by the water hole together with his mother and family.
![Extremely Rare Baby Albino Elephant Spotted in South African Wildlife Park CATERS_PINK_ELEPHANT022-1024x683](https://www.the-open-mind.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/02/CATERS_PINK_ELEPHANT022-1024x683.jpg)
![:copyright: ©️](https://cdn.jsdelivr.net/emojione/assets/png/00a9.png?v=2.2.7)
![Extremely Rare Baby Albino Elephant Spotted in South African Wildlife Park CATERS_PINK_ELEPHANT07-1024x683](https://www.the-open-mind.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/02/CATERS_PINK_ELEPHANT07-1024x683.jpg)
![:copyright: ©️](https://cdn.jsdelivr.net/emojione/assets/png/00a9.png?v=2.2.7)
![Extremely Rare Baby Albino Elephant Spotted in South African Wildlife Park CATERS_PINK_ELEPHANT01-1024x683](https://www.the-open-mind.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/02/CATERS_PINK_ELEPHANT01-1024x683.jpg)
![:copyright: ©️](https://cdn.jsdelivr.net/emojione/assets/png/00a9.png?v=2.2.7)
Unfortunately, albino wildlife are easy target’s for predators because standing out within their habitat, they struggle to blend into their surroundings.
Dr. Ian Whyte, a Kruger park specialist in large herbivores, told the South African news site that it’s possible they’re more common than we think, but many don’t survive.
”It is unclear whether the calf is a true albino or ‘white’ elephant, but may be what is known as a leucistic animal. A true albino has no protective skin pigment, melanin, and has unpigmented pink eyes and white skin with no markings. A leucistic animal is white, but has dark eyes, and can have some pigmentation, producing ‘ghost’ markings.” – krugerpark.co.za
Even though most albino animals in the wild are cast out, this little fella seemed to have been getting on and fitting in with his family just fine.
Thanks to: https://www.the-open-mind.com