On Friday I mentioned that we have an albino deer living in our neighborhood. I am always excited to get a look at this beautiful deer, and as it turns out, I should be really excited. An albino deer only occurs in 1 out of 30,000 deer! Albinism is a recessive trait whereby both parents must carry the recessive gene for there to even be a chance of their offspring being albino. This is part of the reason why albino deer are so rare. The other part is nature. Deer were designed to camouflage with their surroundings for protection from predators. A white deer is much easier for a predator to spot, making it easy prey. Human predators can also be a problem for albino deer. First, they are easier for the hunter to spot. Second, some hunters view an albino deer as quite a trophy. Fortunately, many states have enacted laws against hunting albino deer. It makes me sad to think of a hunter targeting such a beautiful and rare animal!
So why are albino animals white? Well, albinism halts the production of melanin, which results in a total loss of pigmentation on the body. The skin, hair, and eyes are all affected. Albinism can affect all vertebrates (anything with a back bone) including humans. In general, animals and people with albinism are as healthy as their pigmented counterparts, except that they can sometimes have eyesight issues.
Well I for one am going to treasure every chance I get to view the albino deer, it may be the only chance I will ever have to see such a magnificent creature in the wild. Have you ever seen an albino animal in the wild? What about at the zoo?
