A pink baby elephant walks together with its fellows in the middle of the green. We're not telling you a fictional story, it's not Dumbo but it really happened. We are in South Africa, where this very special puppy was spotted in the Kruger National Park
A pink baby elephant walks together with its fellows in the middle of the green. We're not telling you a fictional story, it's not Dumbo but it really happened. We are in South Africa, where this very special puppy was spotted in the Kruger National Park.
Born about 2-3 weeks ago, the little one wandered together with others of his kind in the park, one of the largest wildlife reserves in Africa, which is home to the so-called Big Five: lions, leopards, rhinos, elephants and buffaloes.
But thepink baby elephant it is a real rarity. To spot it was the guide of a safari, Timothy Jansen Van Vuuren who filmed it. The video, posted on YouTube, went around the world. TO notice it also Nicki Coertze, a 58-year-old minister from South Africa, who was visiting Kruger National Park with his family.
“I was trying to stay super still despite the excitement of the others in the car,” Coertze told Caters News Agency.
From the footage it is not clear whether the baby elephant is affected by albinism or if its unusual coloring is due to a genetic condition called leucism. Albinism causes a complete lack of melanin, the group of natural pigments that give color to the skin and eyes. As a result, albinos do not have pink skin. Leucism, on the other hand, consists of a partial loss of pigmentation and does not concern the eyes.
Albinism is quite common in Asian elephants. It is less so among their African cousins, where such sightings are a rarity. At Kruger National Park, the last sighting of this type dates back to 2016 when another baby was sighted.
Whether albino or leucistic, the recently admired baby elephant may have a difficult life. Animals with these conditions are often more vulnerable, they are more difficult to blend in than their peers. This is why they are more easily attacked by predators.
This does not mean that the little one will not make it to become an adult. In nature there are numerous albino specimens that lived up to old age, including also Dolphins and humpback whales.
Here is the video of the little pink elephant:
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