Trail cams capture shocking appearance of rare, white creature in India park. See it
After nearly a decade of absence, a rare white creature once again was spotted in an India sanctuary, the park announced.
A group of researchers with the Holématthi Nature Foundation, led by conservation scientist Sanjay Gubbi, placed trail cameras along a pathway in the Cauvery Wildlife Sanctuary in southern India.
The researchers were hoping to see leopards in the images as they studied the native population, The Times of India reported, but instead, they found something much more rare.
In two images, a white sambar deer was seen standing in the tall grass.
The park shared the images in a Sept. 7 Facebook post, and another image was shared by journalist Bosky Khanna on X, formerly known as Twitter.
Sambar deer, typically a darker brown color, are found in forests across the Himalayas, southern Asia, Taiwan and Malaysia, according to the World Land Trust.
Researchers said the white deer had leucism, a “unique trait that needs to be studied much more closely.”
Leucism is different from albinism, the researchers said in the post.
“Unlike albinism, which occurs due to the lack of melanin in the body of an animal, leucism is a genetic anomaly that results in a complete lack of pigmentation in the animal’s skin, either in patches or through the entire body,” the researchers said.
The white deer was photographed with another sambar deer, which researchers believe is the rare animal’s mother.
This is the first time a white sambar deer has been spotted in the area since 2014, the park said.
“Photographic data like this can offer us many insights into the biology of these herbivore populations, which remains to be explored and also in their ecology,” Gubbi told The Times of India. “Sambar is also listed as a vulnerable species as per the IUCN Red List, so it is imperative that we continue to study them and such unique occurrences.”
The Cauvery Wildlife Sanctuary is in Karnataka, about 715 miles southeast of Mumbai, India.
This story was originally published September 7, 2023 at 11:38 AM with the headline "Trail cams capture shocking appearance of rare, white creature in India park. See it."
