An extremely rare albino elephant has been seen in Kruger National Park in South Africa.
A visitor to a South African wilderness area captured rare footage of an albino baby elephant with unusual pink skin. The video, recorded Monday at the Shingwedsi River, in the Kruger National Park, shows the pink elephant playing in the water with other members of its herd. The little elephant calf’s pink skin stands out in contrast with the grey skin of her mother and African elephants in her herd.
Albino African elephant sightings are extremely rare, with only 3 or 4 being previously recorded in photographs. They wrote albino elephants can be difficult to spot due to keeping their skin caked in mud and dirt to protect them from the sun's rays.
The baby seen Monday is the first albino African elephant to be caught on video.
One person who saw the baby was 58-year old Nicki Coertze, who has been visiting Kruger Park since he was a kid. He said in all his years in the park he has never seen an albino elephant before, so he knew it was a once-in-a lifetime sighting and made sure to take as many pictures as he could.
Albinism is caused by a lack of pigment in the skin. They are reddish-brown or pink, and may suffer blindness or skin problems from sun exposure. The condition also causes poor eyesight that could eventually lead to blindness, something common in albino animals. Albinos are much more rare among African elephants than in Asia. "It's important to note, right through the video, that there was no lack in attention, love or care for the little pink one from the other adults," Coertze said. "It was never treated in any other different way or manner. After a 22 month gestation period, elephant babies are a huge investment to a herd, no matter what they look like."