NATURE lovers were stunned when they managed to capture on film one of the rarest sights in the natural world: an albino deer in La Doñana National Park.
The 30-second video, posted by the local town hall in Almonteño, Huelva, shows the creature calmly grazing in the grass – until it notices it is being watched.
Along with a pair of regular deer, the majestic creature stares directly at the camera for a few moments.
The trio then calmly turn and trot off into the seclusion provided by a nearby copse of trees.
This albino deer is estimated to be less than a year old, according to the Almonteño town hall.
“The impressive specimen of an albino deer has been recorded in Doñana, in Almonte,” the town hall said in a Facebook post.
“This white deer is one of the rarest in the world, since some studies maintain that only one of each 30,000 deer suffer from albinism.”
Some social media comments suggested that albino deer are relatively common in the Doñana area.
However, the creatures are rare enough to be protected in many countries, with hefty fines imposed in some places for hunting them.
Albino animals, including deer, often hold a special place in various cultures and mythologies and are sometimes seen as sacred or mystical beings.
It is produced by a genetic condition where there is a lack of melanin, the pigment that gives colour to the skin, hair, and eyes.
In deer, this results in white fur and often pinkish eyes, nose, and hooves.
Albino deer face significant survival challenges due to their lack of camouflage, which makes them more visible to predators and hunters.
They can also have poor eyesight, which further impacts their ability to survive in the wild.
Albinism is a recessive trait; both parents must carry the gene for their offspring to have a chance of being albino.
However, in closed populations where there is less genetic diversity, such as in the Doñana National Park, albinism might appear more frequently.
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