Albino animals have always stood out quite brightly against the background of their relatives of a natural color. Therefore, the interest in such representatives of the fauna on the part of people has always been special. In Scandinavia, Canada and Sweden in particular, white moose began to meet more often.
And as a result of the "caught" photos and videos with these animal eyewitnesses, discussions arose about the causes of the appearance of albino moose. Are they really albinos, or is this a new breed?
Albino animals: mutants or victims of gene failure?
From a biological point of view, animals born into the world completely white, with an unusual color - these are victims of gene failure. We call such animals albinos, but we cultivate them as something mysterious and surrounded by a mystery that I really want to solve.
It is impossible to cure or wait for albinism until the animal regains color. The gene responsible for pigmentation of hair, skin, eyes, is absent. And this means that such an albino has little chance of survival, since he becomes a living target for a predator, or a predator dooms his life to a hungry existence. In addition, such representatives of the animal world have poor hearing, vision and low immunity. Thanks to what their life, as a rule, is twice shorter than the life of ordinary relatives.
Albinos can be full or partial. With complete albinism, the animal has red eyes. In fact, the pigment of the eye is missing, and we see the capillaries and choroid. Partial albinos have retinal color and partial color. Different opinions still exist about white elk: whether it is an albino or not. Read more about meeting this animal in the next section.
Swedish elk snow-white
Not so long ago, a local resident in the western part of Sweden managed to capture an unusual elk of snow-white color. In the video and photo in which he managed to “catch”, he enters the pond in the commune of Ed. From the filmed material it is clear that this is an absolutely white elk, and even its horns are white. Another Swedish resident, but this time in the Mukendalsk commune, also managed to meet this unusual animal. The elk entered her garden, which discouraged the mistress of the infield. In the Swedish province of Vermand, this amazing animal was also seen.
Such an unusual color of the completely white elk is explained by two versions:
- Partial type congenital albinism. The fact is that his eyes have a natural color, unlike full-type albinos.
- Genetic variation of elk pigmentation, which is a new species.
There is a lot of controversy, since many are of the opinion that the white elk is not an albino, precisely because of its natural eye color. In defense of this theory, experts refer to elk with a snow-white color, which met with brown horns, as it should be with ordinary representatives of this population.
Protection of albino elk
In the countries of Scandinavia and Canada, a law has been introduced to protect these individuals. They are forbidden to shoot hunters, even if the animal is 50% white. This means that this gene will be transmitted from generation to generation, and there will probably be more white moose in the near future.