SHANGRALA'S

RARELY SEEN CRITTERS!

Nature has given animals a wide variety of distinctive colors that we can all immediately recognize. Many of these colors and patterns have become iconic in their own right, and have even influenced human fashion and design. However, with nature being nature, it occasionally throws us a surprise. Rare genetic conditions have given these animals colors which make them stand out from the crowd in the most beautiful of ways. Enjoy! :)       Pandas have one of the most famous and distinctive colored coats in the animal kingdom, and it's one that has enchanted humans for centuries. However, it isn't always black and white in the panda world. In one remote region of China, lives a small number of special pandas with brown fur. It is believed that the color of their coat has come from a combination of diet and generations of genetic mutations. Brown pandas are very rarely spotted in the wild, although there are examples in captivity.       Pink dolphins look like they swam straight out of a children's fairy-tale, but they are real and take on this hue due to albinism. This mutation can occur across most dolphin species. Some are more pink than others, with the most brightly-colored examples offering a fantastically unique sight.       Meet Venus, the incredible Chimera Cat with two faces. The unusual coloring comes from a condition called chimerism, which occurs when two distinct genetic cells exist in one single organism. As well as one half of the face being black, and the other half being ginger, Venus has one blue eye and one yellow. She is something of a celebrity and even has her own webpage.       Albinism is a congenital condition, characterized by a lack of pigment in the skin, hair and eyes. It exists across numerous species, including humans. It is very rare in large primates. This albino gorilla, called Snowflake, lived most of his life in Barcelona Zoo, fathering 22 offspring before his death in 2003. All the hair on his body was completely white.       White tigers are one of the most majestic and beautiful animals in the world, famed for their icy coloring and piercing eyes. They have a pigment variation in comparison to the more commonly-colored Bengal tiger, but are not albinos. Just as humans can have blonde hair or brown hair, white tigers are simply a variation - one we can all be thankful for.       This penguin looks like he forgot to put his apron on in the morning, but he is actually the result of a very rare genetic quirk. In fact, it is so rare that only one black penguin has ever been spotted. Since this one was photographed by National Geographic, they have appealed for more sightings of all-black penguins and asked the public to post their own evidence of this extremely rare variant of an iconic species.       A leopard never changes its spots, as the old saying goes, but this one looks like he has. There are only two known 'strawberry' leopards in existence, and they display stunning ginger spots rather than the black coloring standard in their species. It is believed that they get their unusual spots from a rare condition which stems from an overproduction of red pigment, but it makes them look particularly special.       Crickets and stick insects are known for their ability to blend into their green surroundings, but this one may find camouflage rather difficult, unless he happens to be in a raspberry field! The ultra-rare, pink katydid gets its color from the same disorder that has given us strawberry leopards, and although it makes them look spectacular, it isn't particularly practical given that it makes them very visible fodder for passing predators!

Blue Lobsters are the result of a genetic mutation that infuses them with a large amount of a particular protein, giving their exoskeletons a bizarre blue color rather than the familiar red. It is not as rare as some of the other mutations discussed in this list, with over 2 million blue lobsters estimated to be in existence. Their color often saves them from the human cooking pot so it's a little more useful than the pink is to the katydid!       This zebra is one of very few examples in existence in the world and has light, gold stripes rather than black. Aptly, named the 'golden zebra', she is not an albino, but has a similar pigmentation mutation caused by a condition called amelanism. She looks like she has stepped out of a fantasy world and you have to wonder whether she realizes just how special she really is!       Here is a beautiful white giraffe. This is not an albino but again, a most rarely seen beauty.       Extremely shy, he is a rarity in Arizonia - caught here by Jonathan hunting the bottom of the Desert Boom along the banks of the Upper Verde River. He is supposed to live only along the ocean shores of California.       These rare white lion cubs are two of just 50 in their native country of South Africa.       Baby white lion cubs just four days old play with Easter eggs at the Lion Park in Johannesburg, South Africa.       White Lions are not albinos, but a genetic rarity unique to the Timbavati region. Like blue eyes in humans, the animals' white colour is caused by a recessive gene shared by both parents. The earliest recorded sighting of white lions in the Timbavati region was in 1938. However, the oral records of African elders indicate that these unique animals survived in this region for many centuries. Since their discovery white lions have been hunted, and forcibly removed from their natural endemic habitat.       The white lion species is endangered because their light coats make it harder for them to camouflage. The last white lion was seen in the wild in 1994, after which time they were technically extinct in the wild. The Johannesburg Lion Park has specialised in breeding programmes designed to discourage the inter-breeding of the white lion and have agreements with other white lion breeders to ensure genetic integrity.       They are regarded as sacred animals by the people of that region, but after Europeans 'discovered' them in the 1970s, many were taken from the wild to captive breeding and hunting operations. These removals, along with lion culling and trophy hunting of male lions, depleted the gene pool and the animals have been technically extinct in the wild for the past 19 years.       These adorable White lions are extremely rare and native only to the Greater Timbavati region of South Africa, an area with sandy riverbeds and long grass scorched pale by the sun.

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THANKS Goes To LINDA, KAREN FRANKLIN And GENIANN For Sharing This With Us.

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