A white animal is always a sight to behold, but some of these creatures occur so rare, they surreal. That’s definitely the case of this white alligator. Everyone, meet Elsa – the newest resident of the Roger Williams Zoo.
The Rhode Island-based zoo, had recently announced their big family just got bigger. The news came into light after a post on the zoo’s official Facebook page. According to the post, Else – and American alligator – has this very unique color as a result of albinism.
“Meet Elsa!,” the post reads. “This beautiful lady has made her home in the Zoo’s newest temporary exhibit, Shades of Nature, located in our freshly renovated greenhouse. As an albino American alligator, she lacks melanin, a pigment that provides color to animals and people.”
Very common at the majority of animal species, albinism leads to the loose of the skin’s pigmentation. Most of the time, this rare condition is more a curse than a blessing for the animals that suffer of it. Else is no exception as she suffer of poor eyesight and a hyper-sensibility of the skin. In the wild, albino animals are an easy target for predators and they’re usually rejected by the group.
Thankfully for Elsa, living in a zoo means a long and peaceful life!
“If she were in the wild, she wouldn’t make it,” the spokesperson of the zoo – Corrie Ignagni, said. “When they are born, they are only a few inches, so a larger alligator would probably prey on her.”
Bellow you can watch a some of the cutest albino animals in the world. Enjoy it!