Pandas are rare, but a panda with white fur from head to hind legs is rarer still. Such an animal now fell into a video trap (see above). He is the first albino panda ever seen in the wild.
At first glance, he looks like a somewhat chubby polar bear. But the photo taken by a camera trap in southwest China is of an albino panda. According to experts, it is believed to be five to six years old and to be the only albino panda in the world. Further details about the animal are not known. The striking animal with white fur, claws and red eyes fell into a photo trap in Wolong National Park in April 2019, after which more cameras were placed in the park.
Since then, a special team has been monitoring and studying his daily movements using motion-activated cameras. He has reportedly even been seen interacting with numerous other black and white pandas who live in his neighborhood.
Is he passing on the albino gene?
“It is still unclear whether the gene is inherited and passed on continuously in the red panda population, and more follow-up studies are needed,” said Li Sheng, a researcher at Peking University’s Faculty of Biological Sciences.
It is not the first panda with an unusual coat color: brown pandas have been sighted in Shaanxi province before. Their coat coloring is also likely the result of a mutation. Giant pandas are an endangered species and are only found in the wild in China.
Source: Krone
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