Rare PINK elephant has been captured playing in a South African waterhole

A safari operator in South Africa has captured footage of a rare young pink elephant jumping and playing with his gray counterparts at a waterhole in Kruger National Park.

The roughly one-year-old pink elephant calf was born with albinism, wildlife biologists said, a rare genetic condition that stops the body’s production of the skin pigment known as melanin — sometimes with harmful consequences.

Researchers noted that some species avoid rare albino births among their own kind, but Kruger’s elephants appear to be very protective of their own pink elephant.

In the video shot by the safari operator, the elephants can be seen splashing, rolling and playing with the young pink elephant at a water hole in the national park.

“It is always a privilege to witness these extremely rare and special animals,” said safari organizer Theo Potgieter. Living Science.

Potgieter, who had previously personally witnessed cases of albinism in elephants in the Kruger National Park, told the publication that in both cases he saw the herd accept and care for their unique pink calves.

“In both recent sightings of two different individuals,” Potgieter explained via email, “the rest of the herd seemed very protective and patient with the presence of these young individuals.”

While some creatures with albinism, such as catfish, are avoided or shunned by their peers researchers have documentedOthers, such as albino alligators, are often simply eaten by predators before they reach adulthood.

A safari operator in South Africa captured footage of this rare young pink elephant (center) jumping and playing with its young gray counterparts at a waterhole in Kruger National Park

That safari operator, Theo Potgieter, has also personally witnessed another case of albinism in elephants in the Kruger National Park. He said in both cases he saw the herd accept and care for their unique pink calves

Exotic animal poachers have also hunted albino animals, a practice that has led at least one nonprofit to buy an entire island off the coast of Indonesia just to build a sanctuary for one albino orphan. utan.

Although many albino creatures live solitary lives, away from their more ruddy, melanin-enriched counterparts, these are only part of their problems.

To make matters worse, the condition also reduces the pigment in the irises, causing poor vision.

This ‘pink eye’ can undermine an animal’s ability to gather its food, spot predators, or even track and hunt its own prey.

Like the albino alligator, many other species, when born with albinism, develop bright white fur, scales or skin, making it impossible to camouflage themselves in many environments, adding to the challenges of their lives.

Because these elephants, slaughtered Loxodontaare usually dark gray; their small calves with albinism develop pink skin and blond hair.

Albinism is characterized by a recessive gene, meaning both parents must carry the trait to produce albino offspring, an unlikely mating condition that contributes to the rarity of this mutated gene.

According to Potgieter, this rare condition occurs “only one in 10,000 births” of mammals in the wild.