TITLE: Interesting white color deviations

Seeing a rare white color deviation is an experience for most nature walkers and often a unique event. What is a more exciting experience than encountering, for example, a white elk bull in a dark forest? The elk's pale ghostly figure moving in the dark creates a mystical, almost supernatural atmosphere to the situation. That's what happened to me in 2015 and that's when my interest in abnormally white animals started.
White color deviations are rare and, for some animals, very rare. In these animals, the gene change disrupts the formation of dark pigment, and the animal's coloring varies from completely white to dark mottled spots. The phenomenon is called leukism, which is a general term for an abnormally pale individual. If the animal completely lacks the dark pigment, then it is an albino. The difference is sometimes hard to tell. An albino is characterized by red eyes, because the blood vessels separate through the eye tissue. There are also other malfunctions that cause color errors.

AUTHOR: Esa Ringbom (Finland)

Rare one and a half year old elk brothers. The mother of these was of normal color. I saw them quickly when I was six months old.