Pandas are adorable in their black and white colors. However, an albino panda does exist, and it has been spotted in the wild.

Albino Panda in China

An albino panda was spotted in China in a rare sighting, Daily Star reported. Wolong National Nature Reserve in Sichuan Province, southwestern China, shared footage of the giant mammal walking in the snow.

The albino panda is covered in what appears to be light brown or white fur and was thought to be around five or six years old. It lives with 150 other giant pandas, but the others are the standard black and white.

According to the authorities, the albino panda is in good health.

The rare albino panda has white fur and claws, and red eyes. It was initially seen on reserved cameras in April 2019 at an altitude of about 2,000 meters.

A special team has been following the activities of the panda using motion-activated cameras, which captured it climbing up the base of huge trees, presumably looking for food.

It has been seen interacting with the regular black-and-white pandas it encounters. However, its parents remain unknown.

According to Li Sheng, a Peking University's School of Life Sciences researcher, this is the first albino panda ever seen in the wild. However, Sheng isn't sure whether the panda's gene will be inherited and passed on to the population.

The IUCN Red List has designated the giant panda, a species that is native to China and is regarded as the nation's treasure, as "vulnerable."

There are around 1,860 giant pandas in the wild, according to China's 2021 biodiversity assessment, yet there is only one albino panda known to live among them.

According to Daily Mail, an albino panda is due to a genetic mutation, and they are rare to find. Albinism infrequently occurs, and pandas belong to vulnerable species.

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What Makes an Animal Albino?

Albinism has been observed in many animals, from snails and fish to robins and deer. And as mentioned, even in pandas!

The pigment required to color skin, scales, eyes, and hair, melanin, cannot be produced by some cells, resulting in albinism. The genetic condition is transferred to the offspring when both parents have the recessive gene. The animal may appear white or pink when albinism is present, according to the IOWA Department of Natural Resources.

Leucism or pure albinism are both possible in animals. Pink nails, skin, scales, and/or eyes are characteristics of pure albino animals. The pink hue is caused by blood vessels visible through the skin. Leucism can cause animals to exhibit coloring patterns that are largely typical but lighter.

In addition to their look, these animals frequently experience albinism-related concerns, such as vision problems. Irises, retinas, eye muscles, and optic nerves may not correctly develop if melanin is absent. This can affect the albino critter's ability to focus, perceive depth, and track.

Lack of melanin increases the chance of developing melanoma since the pigment helps shield skin from sunlight. This presents problems for species that enjoy sunbathing, and the albino animal frequently perishes.

Albinism makes it challenging for birds to mate. While many animals use bright colors to entice a possible mate, a white bird will most likely be rejected.

Additionally, albinism in a dark environment makes one with the condition stand out. For instance, it may result in the critter's cryptic color being disturbed, making it easier for predators to see it.

Animals with cryptic colors or patterns blend in with their surroundings. To fit in with the sun spots that shine through to the woodland floor, baby deer have white spots on their bodies, an example of cryptic coloring. Albino animals, however, can go unnoticed as prey because of their peculiar pigmentation.

Do Pandas Eat Meat?

Various bamboo species' leaves, stems, and shoots comprise most of a panda's daily food. In the clip, the albino panda was spotted with what appears to be a bamboo branch in its mouth. Due to the poor nutritional value of bamboo, pandas must consume 12-38 kg of it daily to meet their energy needs, according to WWF.

However, they diversify, with various plants and even meat making up approximately 1% of their diet. Although pandas are virtually exclusively vegetarians, they occasionally hunt for pikas and other small rodents.

Although they have evolved to rely nearly solely on bamboo, giant pandas nonetheless have the digestive tract of a carnivore despite being members of the bear family.

Due to their dependence on bamboo, they are particularly vulnerable to habitat loss, which is currently the main threat to their survival.

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