A rare albino giant panda was spotted in a nature reserve located in southwestern China, according to Chinese media reports published on Saturday. The albino panda is thought to be the only one of its kind.
The Wolong National Nature Reserve released footage of the albino panda, where the albino panda can be seen approaching a mother panda and its baby in a tree. The interaction was calm, as both mother and baby remained in a tree, unreactive to the albino panda’s presence.
What makes a panda a panda? Black and white coat, one might say. But that would be wrong. Because in the Wolong National Nature Reserve in China's southwestern Sichuan Province, there lives an all-white panda. One of a kind, but still a panda pic.twitter.com/A1NqnSsIrW
— RT (@RT_com) May 29, 2023
“The cub in the footage is about one to two years old, and the all-white panda is nearly the size of an adult. At the end of February, wild pandas in Wolong have entered the oestrus season, during which the female pandas with cubs can be very aggressive when an adult panda approaches or invades,” said Wei Rongping, a senior engineer at the China Conservation and Research Centre for Giant Pandas, according to Straits Times.
“This female panda was extremely ‘calm’ and did not conform to the general rule. One possibility is that the female panda is the mother of the all-white panda,” Rongping added.
Albinism is a rare genetic condition caused by mutations of certain genes that affect the amount of melanin a body produces. Melanin controls the color of skin, eyes and hair, according to the Cleveland Clinic.
While researchers are not completely sure, some believe that Pandas are black and white because it enables them to camouflage. The white fur enables them to camouflage in the snow, while the black fur enables them to camouflage in shady bamboo forests, according to Vermont Public.