Who are you calling a white elephant? These amazing pictures of albino animals are not a pigment of your imagination...
- All-white creatures are often considered lucky in some world cultures
- Sadly the rare condition can leave the animals vulnerable to predators
- From lemurs to peacocks, the albinos here make a fascinating sight
- Odd one out is the elephant, whose colouring is down to having a bath
The animal kingdom is usually a riot of colour but if you want to stand out in the crowd, sometimes less is more.
All-white creatures – many of which are albinos – are often considered lucky in some cultures. Sadly for the animals themselves, the opposite is true.
A genetic mutation means they produce no melanin, resulting in little or no colour in the skin and hair, and making them an obvious target for predators.
From lemurs to peacocks, the albinos here make a fascinating sight. The odd one out is the elephant, whose colouring is down to dried white clay following a bath at a watering hole.
Feat of clay: Gazelles keep their distance from this elephant in Namibia whose colour is down to dried white clay because of having a bath at a watering hole
White mischief: This baby nearly all-white ring-tailed lemur looks like a handful for mum - albino animals are often considered lucky in some cultures
Pure delight: A squirrel in Cheshire would be easy to find for a predator searching from the skies
Bleach boy: - Alf, a four-month old albino wallaby, is seen here at Linton Zoo in Cambridgeshire
Omo the white giraffe stands out grazing in the African bush in the Tarangire National Park, in Tanzania
Snappy looker: A white baby American alligator isn't hard to miss here for animal-lovers
The incredibly rare white kingfisher bird perched on a leaf at the Queen Elizabeth National Park in Uganda
Most watched News videos
- Pro-Palestine flags at University of Michigan graduation ceremony
- 'I am deeply concerned': PM Rishi Sunak on the situation in Rafah
- Poet Laureate Simon Armitage's Coronation poem 'An Unexpected Guest'
- Moment suspect is arrested after hospital knife rampage in China
- Ship Ahoy! Danish royals embark on a yacht tour to Sweden and Norway
- Emmanuel Macron hosts Xi Jinping for state dinner at Elysee palace
- Moment pro-Palestine activists stage Gaza protest outside Auschwitz
- Police arrest man in Preston on suspicion of aiding boat crossings
- Deliveroo customer calls for jail after rider bit off his thumb
- Moment Kadyrov 'struggles to climb stairs' at Putin's inauguration
- IDF troops enter Gazan side of Rafah Crossing with flag flying
- Harry arrives at Invictus Games event after flying back to the UK