Albinism occurs when there’s a genetic mutation that reduces or prohibits pigment production.

An albino porcupine. In humans about 1/17,000 people have albinism. However, Dr Shari Parker, a medical doctor with The Albinism Fellowship of Australia, says roughly 1/70 people carry it unwittingly. This helps explain why it has persisted for so long.

A typical black bat and an albino bat at the Tolga Bat Hospital.

A white peacock opens its feathers in a cage in the Nehru Zoological Park in Hyderabad, India. The peacock is the national bird of India and the white peacock is often mistaken for an albino, but it is in fact a recessive mutation known as leucism.

An albino echidna. The rare colouring is manifestation of a gene mutation that disrupts the production of melanin, which colours eyes, skin, hair, fur and leaves. Without this pigment animals or plants default to white or colourless states.

An albino alligator in Florida, USA. It’s a common misnomer that all albinos have pink eyes; indeed some do, but some have blue and even hazel and brown eyes. 

An albino kangaroo and joey. In the wild albino animals are much less likely to survive for a number of reasons. Being fair or white makes them vulnerable to predators, sunburn and cancer.

This Powelliphanta giant snail was discovered by a walking group in the Kahurangi National Park near Nelson, New Zealand. The carnivorous snail has a characteristic golden brown-spiralled shell but with a body that was a glowing white rather than the usual deep black colour.

One of the rarest bats in the world, a completely white (albino) micro bat, nestles on the thumb of carer Pam Tully while recovering from a cat attack at the Batreach Bat Rescue and Rehabilitation Centre at Kuranda, near Cairns in northern Australia. 

Albinism is caused by a gene mutation that affects the producation of the melanin pigment. It it possible in any species.

A rare albino Adelie penguin is given a hard time by the more common black and white variety on fast ice in Commonwealth Bay 10 nautical miles from Mawson’s Hut in Antarctica. 

One of two extremely rare blue-winged albino kookaburras in Ravenshoe, believed to have been swept from their nests in a wild storm, at the wildlife sanctuary in 2010. The pair of native birds, renowned for their laughing cry, were found waterlogged at the base of a tree by a cattle farmer.

A pale albino zebra. Across the country sightings of naturally occurring albinos are also periodically reported to newspapers. Everything from kookaburras to echidnas pop up regularly, but it’s rare to see them survive to maturity in the wild.

A two-heade albino snake – a doulbe rarity. The rare colouring is manifestation of a gene mutation that disrupts the production of melanin, which colours eyes, skin, hair or fur.

An albino turtle born at the Biological Reserve of Abufari, and presented on February 10, 2009 by the Chico Mendes Institute for Biodiversity Conservation (ICMBio) in Tapaua, Amazonia, Brazil. 

An albino water monitor. Even within albinism, there are varying degrees of colouration, ranging from coppery through to very white. And so it’s a common misnomer that all albinos have pink eyes; indeed some do, but some have blue and even hazel and brown eyes. 

A female white albino tiger, Tigrylia is seen with her newborn cub at the Skazka Zoo in Yalta, Ukraine. the tiger gave birth to four cubs, including a rare albino tiger cub. 

A rare albino leopard shark. A team collecting animals for the Newport Aquarium found the 5-month-old, 15-inch-long male shark off the coast of northern California.

A pair of young raccoons, one of them albino, lounge on a chain-linked fence near the Jasper Street Water Plant in Wichita Falls, Texas, USA.

An albino pelican lacks the black markings and even the pink webbing that pelicans usually display. The rare colouring is manifestation of a gene mutation that disrupts the production of melanin, which colours eyes, skin, hair and fur.

A white whale. The black markings indicate the whale probably doesn’t have albinism, but some othe condition, perhaps leucsim. Not all white or fair animals are albino. Polar bears, and Kermode bears (spirit bears), for example, carry fair genes, but not gene mutations that inhibit colour. Some animals also suffer from different disorders that affect their pigmentation to a different extent.

A white squirrel munches on some nuts in Olney, Illinois, USA. A rare colony of albino squirrels lives in Olney and the town attracted squirrel lovers from across the country to mark 100 years since the squirrels were first spotted. Retired zoology professor John Stencel says the colony of about 200 albino squirrels is one of three known in North America. They are all white, with pink eyes. 

White Cloud, the albino bison, stands with her calf names Dakota Miracle in a pasture at the National Buffalo Museum in Jamestown, North Dakota, USA. The white bison is sacred to most Plains Indian tribes and is often seen as a sign of great changes in the world. To some tribes it is a blessing. Others believe it is a sign of peace, prosperity, unity and hope. 

A rare albino calf swims with its mother as bottlenose dolphins are confined in nets by fishermen in Taiji, western Japan. Japanese fishermen killed some of the 250 dolphins trapped recently in what Sea Shepherd activists say was the biggest roundup they have witnessed. 

Copito de Nieve ‘Snowflake’, an extremely rare albino gorilla and the most popular resident of Barcelona zoo, seen in this 2003 photo, died of skin cancer early Nov. 24, 2003. Copito, thought to have died at age 38-40 years old, fathered 22 offspring with three different females during his 37 years at the zoo. None is albino.

This albino corn snake curled up has a classic albino manifestation: pink eyes and white-colourless skin. Some albino snakes have yellow scales and eye colour can vary as well.

Arguably one of the biggest-known albino animals is this moose. Albinism can occur in any species of the animal kingdom, as the condition is caused by a mutation to the genes producing the pigment melanin.

Migaloo – an Aboriginal word meaning ‘white fella’ – is the world’s only confirmed albino whale and is thought to be 25 years old. Two or three other white whales are known of, but spots on their skin suggest they may have a different disorder called leucism.

An albino penguin at the Bristol Zoo. Within albinism, there are varying degrees of colouration, ranging from coppery through to very white. 

An 18-month old albino alligator is presented at the Tropical aquarium in Paris, Feb. 13. 2014. Two albino alligators arrived in their new home in Paris, after travelling thousands of miles from a fish farm in Florida. The aquarium’s new lodgers are two of only 20-30 in the world, according to the director of the tropical aquarium Michel Hignette.