03/23/2009
Pink Elephant Photographed in Botswana
And the cameraman wasn't even drinking!
A pink albino baby elephant, the first to be spotted in Botswana (and the fourth known occurrence in Africa) was photographed by a BBC cameraman on a shoot for the network recently:
"While albinism is thought to be fairly common in Asian elephants, it is much less common in the larger African species. Ecologist Dr Mike Chase, who runs conservation charity Elephants Without Borders, said: "I have only come across three references to albino calves, which have occurred in Kruger National Park in South Africa."
It's chances of survival aren't great: "He said that the condition might make it difficult for the calf to survive into adulthood. 'What happens to these young albino calves remains a mystery,' said Dr Chase. 'Surviving this very rare phenomenon is very difficult in the harsh African bush. The glaring sun may cause blindness and skin problems.'
Chase expressed hope that the elephant species' innate ability to adapt might help the calf.
You may have missed...
Stunning Pink Dolphin Photographed in Louisiana [tr]
Posted 1:13 PM EST by Andy Towle in Africa, Nature, News | Permalink
Like it?
Subscribe to FREE Towleroad daily headlines with our RSS feed!
RECENT STORIES:
Comments
You can follow this conversation by subscribing to the comment feed for this post.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6nwNPaYoTY8
Posted by: Rick | Mar 23, 2009 1:18:17 PM
Beautiful animals...even if they are Republicans. Maybe the little pink one is a centrist--like Arlen Spector.
Posted by: Derrick from Philly | Mar 23, 2009 1:23:13 PM
Poor baby. I sure hope he is able to survive.
Posted by: soulbrotha | Mar 23, 2009 1:39:59 PM
And in related news, former vice president nominee, Sarah Palin, travels to Botswana for a hunting expedition.
Posted by: Beer Gut | Mar 23, 2009 2:38:32 PM
It's a little-known fact that when pink elephants stampede, only alcoholics get trampled.
Posted by: TikiHead | Mar 23, 2009 5:13:38 PM
poor baby elephant
My skin feels like it is sizzeling in the sun when I look at it.
On the one hand I believe in letting wild animals remain wild animals, but in this case it would be more kind to trank it and transport it to a zoo or some such facility that can provide an enclosure with more shading.
Posted by: jimmyboyo | Mar 23, 2009 5:51:51 PM
It should be captured and moved to a facility to care for.It would be humanitarian.But of course,nature organizations all they want is your money for their salaries and not to care for the animals.
Posted by: Oscar in Miami Beach | Mar 23, 2009 7:24:35 PM