Albino Giraffe

Seeing a completely white animal is a wonder in itself! Completely white animals are quite rare and spotting them is a sight. However, all over the world there are different white colored animals. There are some animals which have some body area white, while there are some animals which are completely white. However, do not mistake total white animals with albino animals.

Albino animals also have their body color white and many times there eyes as red. So, why does this happen? Let us look at albinism in animals, and rarely spotted albino giraffe.

Albinism occurs in humans and animals due to the lack of pigment - melanin. Melanin is what gives a person or animal their complexion color.

So, if one has a lot of melanin in their body the skin will be darker, and if there is less melanin present in the body the skin tends to be fairer. But, if there is no melanin present in the body at all then the skin, hair, or eyes; or all three of these tend to be very light in color.

Eyes tend to be red while skin and hair appear white in color. Albinism in animals can be partial albinism or can be total. When it is partial albinism some parts of the body of the animals will appear lighter, while some will appear darker.

True albinism means total absence of melanin, such animals will not even have a patch of color on their body, but will appear completely white! The eyes of animals who have true albinism is reddish or pinkish in color.

One of the rare albino animal is albino giraffe. They are not common at all. They are a very very rare sight, and hardly one will be able to see them in wild. There is big disadvantage of being an albino giraffe. Nature has given giraffe a particular type of patchy brown-yellow skin.

This is for camouflage purpose. In grasslands this kind of skin helps protect the giraffe in their environment by merging in the environment. They being white in appearance can be very easy to spot for the predators. Hence, the lifespan of albino giraffe is often very less. But, albinism happens every 20,000 births and so they are rarely to be seen.

During the year 2005 an albino giraffe was spotted in Tanzania. These kinds of giraffes have been spotted in this area many times before. There is also a real stuffed albino giraffe in Ripley's Believe It Or Not Odditorium. You can find these giraffes pictures on the internet.

Albinism in animals like giraffe can be seen once in a while. Like giraffe there are many strange looking albino animals in the world. There are albino kangaroos, albino snakes, albino dolphin, albino whale, albino alligator, albino peacock, albino zebra, albino gorilla, etc.