Australia’s white animals

By AG STAFF August 15, 2017
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Have you seen the rare footage of a white moose in Sweden yet? Well, Australia has its very own share of albino native animals. White is a rare colour in nature and it’s not surprising the unusual pale hues found in people, animals and plants affected by albinism are romanticised in literature. The rare colouring is manifestation of a gene mutation that disrupts the production of melanin, which colours eyes, skin, hair, fur and leaves. Without this pigment animals or plants default to white or colourless states. This doesn’t mean, however, that all white or fair animals or people are albino. Polar bears, Kermode bears (spirit bears) and Scandinavians, for example, carry fair genes, but not gene mutations that inhibit colour. Some animals also suffer from different disorders that affect their pigmentation to a different extent. Even within albinism, there are varying degrees of colouration, ranging from coppery through to very white. And so it’s a common misnomer that all albinos have pink eyes; indeed some do, but some have blue and even hazel and brown eyes. Some plants are also only partially albino, producing either regular or random stripes or colour patchers. Other people and animals are only white at the warmest points on their bodies.