World’s first picture of an albino panda snapped in China
AN extremely rare albino panda has been caught on camera in China.
The pale cub was captured by a motion-sensing camera deep within the dense bamboo forest of Sichuan province.
The photograph is the world's first of an albino panda, and shows the all-white giant panda on a stroll in the wild.
Scientists want to set up more camera tracks to get a better look at the unusual creature.
Albinism is a rare condition caused by a mutation to a certain gene.
The change means an animal or person can't properly produce the usual pigment, or colour, in their bodies.
The albino giant panda was photographed at the Wolong national nature reserve in southwestern China.
Officials reckon the bear's condition does not affect its health, as it appears "physically strong, with a steady gait".
Li Sheng, a researcher with Beijing's Peking University, told that no fully albino giant panda had been recorded in the wild before.
He said the panda in the pictured looks to be between one and two years old. Experts aren't sure whether it's male or female.
It's not known how many albino pandas exist.
Only one in 20,000 people has albinism, though the frequency of the disease varies in other species.
The giant panda is classified as vulnerable by the International Union for Conservation of Nature, with fewer than 2,000 left in the wild.
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In other news, a super-rare "ghost owl" with white feathers was recently spotted in Britain.
The world’s oldest animal footprints were uncovered last year by archaeologists.
An ancient "predatory platypus" thrived in a world devastated by mass extinction.
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