The animal kingdom is filled with creatures boasting incredible colors, but seeing a bright white creature stripped of their signature shades can be truly mesmerizing! Some of them look like ghostly spirits, others appear impossibly majestic, and some just look like nature ran out of ink! So, whether you find them strange, spooky, or stunning, let's explore some of the most captivating creatures that don’t need color to look cool!
Peanut, The White Racoon
A lot of you probably think of racoons as vicious, rabies-carrying pests that like to sneak around in the trash. But this startlingly white racoon somehow looks like the epitome of innocence! Adorably nicknamed Peanut, this weirdly white scavenger was discovered in Pennsylvania, and turned out to be a huge fan of girl scout cookies!
Rare Albino Raccoon likes Girl Scout cookies by Adam Milstead But just how did Peanut trade in that famous racoon mask for a bright white coat? It turns out this guy has albinism, a rare genetic condition caused by a recessive gene that affects the body’s production of melanin. This is the pigment that colors the skin, hair, and eyes of both animals and humans. But it’s such a rare condition, that just around 1 in 10,000 mammals are born albino. And, according to wildlife experts, because raccoons are nocturnal in nature, the likelihood of actually seeing one in the wild is just 1 in 750,000. That means, during your lifetime, you’re more likely to be struck by lightning than see a white racoon in the flesh!
Albino Screech Owl
Albinism doesn’t just affect mammals, as proven by this startling little Screech Owl!
Red Eyes Owl by EvaVid
At around 10 inches tall, these adorable birds are usually colored brown and grey to help them blend in with their woodland surroundings. Though I don’t reckon this guy would be able to blend in with any forest unless it was completely coated in snow! This owl's feathers are pure white, but its eyes are an incredibly unusual shade of red! That’s because the red blood cells in the eye’s retina can be seen through the iris, which has no pigment to obscure this. Like many albinos, this means the owl has pretty poor eyesight and is extremely sensitive to light, putting it at a disadvantage when hunting for food or avoiding danger.
So, while albino birds are actually more common than mammals, with around 1 in every 1,800 birds born albino, very few of them can survive into adulthood. Although not all bright white animals suffer from poor eyesight! As you can see in the clip below, this little screech owl is wonderfully white, but thanks to those big black eyes, you can tell it’s not albino.
White Screech Owl - Leucistic or Albino. Update to 'White Owl - Leucistic Baby Screech Owl" by Irena Rudz It’s actually affected by
leucism, a similar condition to albinism that only results in a partial loss of the animals’ pigmentation. But it affects different types of pigment, not just melanin, which is why leucistic animals usually have normal colored eyes!
White Wallabies
Jutting off the isle of Tasmania, Australia’s southernmost point, is Bruny island, a little landmass that’s home to a secluded population of wallabies. But these aren’t just any old wallabies, as you can see in the clip below!
Wild Albino Wallabies on Bruny Island by Coast Traveller Sometimes called Bennett’s wallabies, or White Wallabies, these beautiful bouncing marsupials get their bright white coats from a mix of leucistic and albino genetics. So, while some have a white coat with pink or red eyes, others have a white coat with dark eyes. Wallabies are members of the kangaroo clan, but are much smaller than their marsupial cousins, standing at around 2 ft tall while kangaroos can grow up to 8 ft! Even so, their rates of albinism are about the same, which is thought to occur just once in every 50,000 to 100,000 births. However, on Bruny island white wallabies often mate with one another, meaning more of their babies, called joeys, are born with that same recessive white gene! Apart from Bruny Island, white wallabies born on other places too.
Baby Albino Echidna
You have to admit, echidna’s are pretty crazy looking animals at the best of times. Growing more than 1 ½ ft long, with fleshy beaks, and hedgehog-like spines, you might be thinking that this bizarre little animal couldn’t get weirder if it tried. But that’s just because you haven’t seen this baby albino echidna yet!
It looks like the world’s deadliest snowball! Just imagine using that in a snowball fight! With just 1 in 10,000 echidna’s thought to be born albino, finding one in the wild is considered a once-in-a-lifetime discovery. That’s because, sadly, a spate of human overhunting drove them to the brink of extinction back in the 1960’s.
Like that didn’t make this guy rare enough, albino creatures often find it difficult to survive in the wild because of their inability to camouflage themselves, making them vulnerable to predators. But thanks to those painful looking quills, echidna’s don’t have many natural predators. That means, while the echidna population has slowly been recovering, there could be more blinding white echidna’s out there than anyone knows!
Albino Deer Twins
The odds of an albino deer being born is somewhere in between 1 in 20,000 and 30,000. So, imagine the luck this person had to spot not one, but two albino deer out their window.
They’re so dazzlingly white you probably almost didn’t see the third deer on the right there! Or the fourth one lying down behind them. That demonstrates pretty well why having a bright white coat is detrimental to most animal’s camouflage! But really, what are the odds of seeing two albino deer like this? Well, seeing how similarly sized they are, it’s likely these two are twins still following their mom around. In fraternal twin mammals, if one baby has albinism, there’s less than a 25% chance the other twin will also be born albino. However, if they’re identical twins, then they are almost always astonishingly both born with albinism!
Leucistic Reindeer
Out in the wilds of Norway, reindeer roam freely over the mountains with grey and brown coats that help them blend seamlessly into the scenery. However, their cousin stands out like a sore thumb.
Rare white reindeer in Northern Sweden!! by Roadsurf_Marley Metten While he might not be the most well-camouflaged animal, pure white reindeer like this are still incredibly rare to see in the wild. But, surprisingly, it’s not because they’re albino! Just like the previously mentioned screech owl, white reindeer are often Leucistic, as you can tell from their dark colored eyes. Still, seeing one in the flesh is considered to be a sign of good luck! So much so, onlookers who spot them will happily stop their cars in the middle of the road just to get a little closer to the ethereal looking beasts. Considering how magical he looks, do you reckon this guy is related to Rudolf?
White Reindeer by Jack Nickolson Leucistic Moose
When it comes to crowning the animal with the most majestic headdress, the true winner could only be this otherworldly white moose. Discovered grazing in the wilds of Varmland Country, Sweden, moose like this can grow to a massive 6.5 ft tall at the shoulder.
But as big as it is with all that white fur, this isn’t an albino. You can just about tell from the dark color of its eyes that this is a leucistic moose, although that still makes it an incredibly rare animal. Varmland County is home to more than 400,000 moose, and experts believe fewer than 100 of them share these stunning, white-coated genetics. While these extraordinarily rare creatures are protected almost all over the world, they don’t always escape the attention of hunters. In Canada, for example, these animals are considered sacred by the country’s First Nations, and so they’re protected by hunting laws. But in 2013, three hunters in Nova Scotia were
charged with shooting a white moose by the, rightfully outraged Mi’kmaq people. Although they begrudgingly returned the pelt, they unbelievably kept the head as a trophy. How barbaric! To make it fair, the Mi’kmaq should have taken the heads of those hunters in exchange!
White Horses
When it comes to the equestrian world, there’s no animal as majestic as a white horse. There’s a reason every storybook Prince Charming comes riding in on a regal white stallion, and not a donkey!
But most of the white horses we see actually start off life with a darker coat, which eventually turns white as they grow up. These, confusingly named, Grey Horses are still beautiful, but they’re not what equestrian enthusiasts call true white horses.
Dapple Grey Horse Jumping by eve That title falls to horses born with pink skin, an all-white coat, and dark colored eyes! These all-white beauties are pretty stunning, but none of them can compare to the strikingly different Cremello colored horse. These stunning stallions and mares don’t just have that pure pink skin and off-white coat, but their eyes are also the palest shade of blue, giving them an ethereal appearance.
Beautiful Cremello Horse joins Cobb & Co Ride in Longreach, Outback Queensland by Adventures All Around You might think this is caused by albinism, however Cremello coloring isn’t caused by a recessive gene. And amazingly, there have been no reported cases of true albinism ever found in horses, so Cremellos are technically the next best thing! What’s more, the inheritance of the Cremello coloring, also hilariously known as the creme gene, isn’t limited to any one breed of horse. This means ponies, shire horses, and even donkeys can sport this beautiful white visage! With that said, maybe Prince Charming will ride a donkey in the future!
White Snakes
There’s nothing more astonishing than seeing a white snake in action, and no, we're not talking about the 1970’s rock band!
White snake by Abhilasha Saini This incredible cobra is unlike any of its fan-necked brethren, which usually rep colors ranging from brown and green to black! But while its red eyes may make you think this is a case of albinism, in reptiles it’s not always that straight forward. Many white snakes, like this supposedly albino king cobra, often sport at least two pigments in their scales, which are usually yellow and red.
So, while these snakes lack a lot of pigments, giving their eyes that tell-tale red color, they can still have patches of pale yellow, orange, or even red! This means they’re not actually affected by albinism, but a different pigment abnormality called amelanism. That’s why confusingly named creatures, like this albino ball python, still have yellow patches dotted all over their scaley skin.
Albino Ball Python Unboxing 2019 by MrMadrizrealm
But this doesn’t mean snakes can’t be bright white, thanks to that previously mentioned leucistic affliction. With those bright blue eyes and snow-white scales, this baby ball python almost looks like it’s been carved out of porcelain!
LEUCISTIC BALL PYTHON FEMALE-beautiful snake by siegelreptiles And this rare reptile is just as precious as it looks. Depending on the size, a standard ball python can cost up to $200, but leucistic snakes can start at well over $700! Talk about white gold.
Albino Crocodile
Snakes aren’t the only reptiles that can carry off a set of wonderfully white scales! Crocodiles, especially those bred and raised on specialized farms or in sanctuaries, can also sport near-spotless pelts, like the one in the image below! Somehow, that ghostly silhouette makes them look even more dangerous than their dark-colored kin.
On crocodile farms, just about one in every 10,000 hatchlings that survive into adulthood are white, but that figure gets much lower in the wild. Because nature is cruel, only 20-30% of crocodile eggs hatch when they’re exposed to the elements, and just 1% of hatchlings survive into adulthood! But pure white crocs are more visible to predators than the average hatchling, so even fewer of them live to become big, fearsome crocs. Though when they do, like this freshwater croc called Pearl by locals in Australia, they’re an absolutely magnificent site to behold!
White Crocodile Spotted in Northern Territory River by Storyful News & Weather As you can see from the black flecks on her back, Pearl isn’t an albino. She was born with hypomelanism; a rare condition resulting in reduced pigmentation in her skin. Even though she’s not as white as the driven snow, this still makes her one super rare croc!
Albino Alligators
Across the pond from their crocodilian brothers, alligators are another reptile you might not expect to see clad in pearly scales. And yet, these two great gators look like they’ve been given a coat of white gloss paint!
Albino Missisippi Alligators Fighting - EXCLUSIVE by Kirstenmunck With their pinkish colored eyes and alabaster scales, albino alligators, like crocodiles, are incredibly rare in the wild. With similar survival rates to the crocs, the odds are stacked against any bright white babies surviving out in the open. But this gator farm in Colorado has a couple of female and male albino alligators, which they encourage to increase the population!
Albino alligators mating at Colorado Gator Farm by Colorado Gators
Even with these intense conservation efforts, biologists estimate there are just 100 albino gators in the entire world! Amazingly though, leucistic gators, like Trezo Je here, are actually thought to be much rarer. While their loss of pigment is pretty incredible to see on its own, these gators also sport sets of bizarrely bright blue eyes! But how rare do these traits make them? Well, in 2019, a lowly 11 leucistic alligators were known of worldwide!
Trezo Je, the leucistic alligator. by guilford62 Migaloo, The White Whale
Anyone who’s ever read Moby Dick might think that white whales can only be found in fiction. But there’s one whale who’s not only very white, he’s also very real.
A rare appearance of Migaloo - the white humpback whale by Manjula Gallella This remarkable humpback whale, called
Migaloo, not Moby, was first spotted back in 1991 off the eastern coast of Australia. Back then, researchers estimated he was around 3 years old, and today, at more than 30 years old, he’s thought to be the only white humpback whale in the world!
Current estimates put the humpback whale population between 120,000 and 150,000. That’s pretty astonishing considering it hit a low of just 440 back in the 1950’s, before a series of whaling bans were put into effect. Even so, the fact that Migaloo has survived so far into adulthood is nothing short of a miracle. Because humpback whale calves can take up to 10 years to develop into adults, predators, poachers, or sometimes plain bad luck can get them when they’re most vulnerable. This means that up to 24% of humpback whale calves devastatingly don’t make it into their prime. Considering how easy a target Migaloo’s color would have made him as he was growing up, it’s astonishing that he made it into adulthood! Because of his incredible color, he’s become something of a hit with eager tourists who want to get a photo with him. But in 2003, this led to disaster when one group of tourists got too close and accidently scarred his back with their boat’s propeller.
After that, a protection order was set up, and boats are no longer allowed to sail within 1640 ft of him. But that hasn’t stopped him from approaching them though, much to his fan’s delight!
White Lions
Lions are another of nature’s biologically majestic animals! White lions, on the other paw, are made all the more amazing by rare recessive traits that turn their caramel coats a proud pale. And the one below certainly got the lion’s share of that rare genetic mutation!
World Most Beautiful Lion by Adeiiii But even though their fur is white as snow, you can see the skin of their nose, eyes, and mouth all hold a dark pigment. That’s because most white lions aren’t albinos, they’re actually leucistic! Sadly, there are just 13 white lions prowling around in the wild, with around 100 more in captivity, most of which are in their native homeland of South Africa. You might think that’s because those dazzling coats make surviving out on the savannah pretty difficult. How are they meant to sneak up on prey if they look like bright-white beacons in the long grass?
Well, scientists studying these amazing animals discovered that, despite their apparent disadvantage, white lions and regular lions have similar hunting kill rates. So, if they’re not going hungry, why aren’t their more of these bleached big cats in the wild? Upsettingly, that comes down to us humans.
Since they were discovered by Europeans back in 1938, they’ve typically been hunted down, or caged and used for breeding. And despite being on the verge of extinction, they aren’t on the endangered species list because they technically fall under the same species as ordinary tawny lions. This means they have almost no protection against being hunted in the wild! That’s enough to make any big cat lover want to roar with rage!
Leucistic Giraffes
Back in 2017, rumors began to spread of a tall, ghostly figure stalking the Ishaqbini conservation in Kenya. At first, it sounded so farfetched that rangers didn’t believe that such a creepy sounding creature existed. But several months later, they were left stunned when they were confronted by this impossible looking animal!
It was a leucistic giraffe; an almost entirely white, 15 ft tall animal with the faint blonde patches of its spots barely visible. And it wasn’t alone. Shuffling along nearby was an equally bright white baby! Considering the giraffe population has dropped by almost 40% in the last 30 years, leaving less than 70,000 of them in the wild, the sighting of such an impossible pair was miraculous! Alongside habitat loss, poachers after the animal’s prized pelts and meat will stop at nothing to hunt the animals, illegally breaching protected areas to do so. And sadly, the rarity of this pair was too much for poachers to resist. In 2020, both this mother and baby were found barbarically slain, leaving just one white giraffe left in Kenya.
Though its patterning wasn’t as white as the others, the rangers couldn’t risk its safety and so decided to track the last remaining animal. With its whereabouts being broadcast to the rangers 24/7, they hope this will deter poachers from wiping out the very last white giraffe!
Amazing Apes
The tree-filled habitats of most monkeys mean that dark colored fur is essential for camouflaging themselves from forest-dwelling predators. It’s why you won’t spot any chimps donning parrot-like colors, or any gorillas naturally dyed in neon!
However, like most mammals, monkeys can also suffer from freak gene mutations, like an albino long-tailed macaque found in a zoo in Malaysia! Because they’re so much easier to spot ghosting through the trees in the wild, a lot of albino monkeys are kept in captivity for their own safety.
Thankfully, not all of them are destined for a life trapped in a cage, like this extraordinary little orangutan. This species of great ape is native to Indonesia and is famed for its unusual bright orange fur. But in 2017, news reached the Borneo Orangutan Survival Foundation of a young, pure white orangutan that had been found by locals. The young female, who was just 5 years old, was discovered incredibly stressed and dehydrated in a patch of recently cleared forest.
Deforestation is the main reason why there are little over 100,000 orangutans left in the wild, but she was thankfully rescued by the sanctuary, who fittingly named her Alba. While she’s been described as the only albino orangutan in the world, her bright blue eyes would suggest she’s actually leucistic. Either way, she’s still a remarkably rare ape!
Meet Alba, the Albino Orangutan | BOS Foundation by BOS Foundation After recovering and forming a close bond with another female orangutan in the sanctuary called Kika, the pair were eventually released 2018. Since then, the pair have thrived in the wild, and hopefully will continue too for a long time to come.
White Turtles
The Kosgoda Turtle Hatchery on the coast of Sri Lanka is an institute dedicated to protecting all sea turtles and increasing their hatching rates. They don’t just rescue eggs that have been laid by mother turtles on risky beaches, they also help them hatch and release them back into the wild. However, it would seem some turtles are just too precious for them to let go of. Videoed swimming about in a tiny, concrete tank, a pair of strikingly bright white turtles haunt the hatchery’s waters.
Albino Turtle, Sri Lanka by Wandering On Adventure Travel Blog Often reported as albinos, the bright blue of their eyes and fans of pigment on their shells indicate they’re more likely to be leucistic. But as captivating as they are to watch, they’ve been kept cruelly confined to this pitiful little pool for years.
A recent investigation from the National Geographic accused hatcheries like this of keeping the rare white turtles purely to attract tourists. And while they may appear healthy, these tanks are actually breeding grounds for disease and bacteria. They might be safe from rogue fishing nets and predators, but this dire situation is enough to leave any animal shell-shocked!
Zoe, The Golden Zebra
When it comes to black and white animals, the most famous of them all has to be the Zebra. The three living species of this African animal all sport black stripes on their white coats from their muzzles down to their hooves. However, some individuals were born to stick out from the heard, like Zoe here.
First albino Zebra / Primer Cebra albino by HombreYBestia Born in captivity in Hawaii, Zoe wasn’t white and black as much as she was white and blonde! Along with her golden stripes, her mane was also shockingly blonde, almost like she’d visited a bleach-obsessed hairdresser! She was often described as the world’s only known albino zebra, but, as we know by now, if she was truly albino, those stripes wouldn’t be visible at all! Like the previously mentioned snakes, Zoe actually had amelanism, meaning she lacked the ability to produce all but a few pigments. The condition is shared by several other zebra’s in captivity, but they’re so rarely seen in the wild that almost nothing is known about how prevalent this condition is! While standing out from the crowd doesn’t appear to affect their social acceptance within the heard, wearing blonde stripes in a sea of black poses some challenges.
A study from 2014 revealed that zebras evolved their black and white stripes to deter bugs from biting them, not as a form of camouflage, as most people believe! So, without this bold bug deterrent, golden zebras are believed to have a harder time keeping the bites at bay. That probably means blondes don’t always have more fun!
If you were amazed at these beautiful white animals, you might want to read about the
rarest animals in the world. Thanks for reading!
](https://beamazed.b-cdn.net/dwuwcl9md/image/upload/v1716774197/glow-ups-that-will-make-your-jaw-drop/GJuvd5iDTGt0rlJ13pQvS.jpg?width=400)
