35 of nature�s rarest albinoand white creatures to you. Beautiful animals are very rare in nature, and man has long had a fascination for these creatures since ancient times. Some cultures regard albinos as sacred animals, and they have even been the basis of great legends and folklore. Due to their uniqueness and rarity, albino animals are some of the most valuable attractions in zoological centers and circuses throughout the world. Snowflake was an albino Western Lowland Gorilla, and the most popular resident of the Barcelona Zoo in Spain, where he spent most of his life. He was known worldwide, mentioned in tourist guides and put on postcards, becoming the unofficial mascot for the city. Known as the �White Squirrel Capital of the World,� Olney, Illinois, is home of the world�s largest known albino squirrel colony. Kenton, Tennessee is home to about 200 albino squirrels. There are also albino squirrels on the main campus of Ohio State University in Columbus, Ohio. Brevard, North Carolina and Marionville, Missouri have a substantial population of white (not albino) squirrels. The kangaroo is a national symbol of Australia � its emblem is used on the Australian coat of arms, on some of its currency, and by some of Australia�s best known organizations, including Qantas. Deer generally have lithe, compact bodies and long, powerful legs suited for rugged woodland terrain, making them excellent jumpers and swimmers. They are ruminants, or cud-chewers � the teeth are adapted to feeding on vegetation, and like other ruminants, they lack upper incisors, instead having a tough pad at the front of their upper jaw. The elk, or wapiti, is one of the largest species of deer in the world and one of the largest mammals in North America and eastern Asia. In the deer family, only the moose is larger, and the �Sambar� deer can rival the elk in size. The North America moose is the largest extant species in the deer family. Moose are distinguished by the palmate antlers of the males � other members of the family have antlers with a �twig-like� configuration. Most goats naturally have 2 horns of various shapes and sizes depending on the breed. While horns are a predominantly male feature, some breeds of goats have horned females, and polled (hornless goats) are not uncommon. Their horns are made of living bone surrounded by keratin and other proteins which are used for defense, dominance, and territoriality. The llama is a South American camelid, widely used as a pack animal by the Incas and other natives of the Andes mountains. llamas are still used as beasts of burden today In South America, as well as for the production of fiber and meat. Along with Camels and Llamas, the Alpaca are classified as Camelids, and have been domesticated for thousands of years. The closest living species are the wild Vicuna, also native to South America. Alpacas are smaller than the other Camelid species, but they are however larger than the wild Vicuna. The Moche people of Northern Peru often used Alpaca images in their art. Camels are even-toed ungulates within the genus Camelus, native to the dry desert areas of western Asia, and central and east Asia, respectively. The dromedary, one-humped or Arabian camel has a single hump, and the Bactrian camel has 2 humps. A moth is an insect closely related to the butterfly, both being of the order Lepidoptera. Moths frequently circle artificial lights. One hypothesis for this behavior is that moths use a technique of celestial navigation called transverse orientation. By maintaining a constant angular relationship to a bright celestial light, such as the Moon, they can fly in a straight line. When a moth encounters a much closer artificial light and uses it for navigation, the angle changes noticeably after only a short distance. A hedgehog is any of the small spiny mammals of the subfamily Erinaceinae and the order Erinaceomorpha. There are 16 species of hedgehog found through parts of Europe, Asia, Africa, and New Zealand. There are no hedgehogs native to Australia, and no living species native to North America � those in New Zealand are introduced. Hedgehogs have changed little over the last 15 million years. Like many of the first mammals they have adapted to a nocturnal, insectivorous way of life. The �C� gene codes for the enzyme tyrosinase, the first step in pigment production. Its recessive alleles determine whether a cat is a complete albino (pink-eyed) or a temperature sensitive albino. The temperature sensitive albino genotypes are cbcb Burmese, cscs Siamese, and cbcs Tonkinese. The cscs gene can turn a cat�s eyes blue due to a reduced number of melanocytes, affecting pigmentation of the eyes. If a cat has the dominant C allele, then the cat is non-albino and full pigment production occurs. White tigers have a genetic condition that nearly eliminates pigment in the normally orange fur, although they still have dark stripes. Another genetic condition in snow-white or �pure white� tigers also makes the stripes of the tiger very pale. When a tiger inherits 2 copies of the recessive gene for the paler coloration, they may have a pink nose, pink paw pads, grey-mottled skin, ice-blue eyes, and white to cream-colored fur with black, grey, or chocolate-colored stripes. The white lion is not a separate subspecies nor is it albino, but a rare color mutation of the Kruger subspecies of lion that has been perpetuated by selective breeding in zoos around the world. They�re occasionally found in wildlife reserves in South Africa, and white cubs have sporadically turned up among tawny lions in the Timbavati and Kruger National Park regions. Bison is a taxonomic group containing 6 species of large even-toed ungulates within the subfamily Bovinae. Only 2 of these species still exist � the American bison and the European bison, or wisent, each with 2 subspecies. The American and European bison are the largest terrestrial mammals in North America and Europe. The ferret is a domestic mammal. They typically have brown, black, white, or mixed fur, an average length of approximately 20 inches (51 centimeters) including a 5 inch (13 centimeter) tail, and weigh between 1.5 to 4 pounds (0.8 to 2 kilos). Ferrets are sexually dimorphic predators with males being substantially larger than females. The Dingo, or Warrigal, is a feral domestic dog rather than a separate species, which mostly lives independently from humans. They have features in common with both wolves and modern dogs, and are regarded as more or less unchanged descendants of an early ancestor of modern dogs. Albino Koala The true seals or earless seals are one of the 3 main groups of mammals within the seal suborder, Pinnipedia, and sometimes called crawling seals to distinguish them from the fur seals and sea lions of family Otariidae. Fur seals are much more closely related to sea lions than true seals, and share with them external ears, relatively long and muscular foreflippers, and the ability to walk on all fours. They�re marked by their dense underfur, which made them a long-time creature of commercial hunting. Albino Whale
Gorilla
Albino Squirrel
Kangaroo
Albino Deer
Albino Moose
Albino (White) Billy Goat
Albino (White) Llama
Albino Alpaca
Albino Camel
Albino (White) Moth
Albino Hedgehog
Albino Cat
White Bengal Tiger
White Lion
Rare White Lion Cubs Greet the World
Two rare white lion cubs are feted at the Belgrade Zoo in Serbia, December 2008.
Albino Bison
Albino Ferret
Albino Dingo
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