A rare ‘pink’ baby elephant has defied odds to survive in the wild despite battling problems caused by its skin pigmentation.
The rare elephant calf was born with albinism to a wild elephant in Masai Mara, Kenya in April this year.
The condition is caused by a lack of pigment in the skin and usually results in pale dermatological layers and unpigmented, pink eyes. Albinism can also cause poor eyesight that could eventually lead to blindness as the calf gets older.
Despite this, the adorable elephant was caught on camera by a wildlife photographer and ranger Mostafa Elbrolosy, who spotted the wild animal’s unusual pink skin, thriving alongside its mother.
Mostafa, who runs a safari camp, had heard about the birth of a baby elephant but the photographer said he was surprised when he saw the adorable calf for himself.
A rare ‘pink’ baby elephant has defied odds to survive in the wild. (Credit: Caters)
He said: “It was a rare sighting. Rare creatures are always the most attractive for any wildlife photographer and getting the chance to watch and photograph it was like a dream.”
“As I live in the Masai Mara running my cozy camp here, I got a news over the radio of female elephant giving birth to an albino baby,” he added.
“I finished my job, packed my camera and went looking for it with one of our guides.”
Continuing: “We got the surprise in the afternoon after quiet long time of searching only very few people had come to see it as no one expected it to be an albino one.
“I was very lucky to get the chance to see and photograph this extremely rare baby.”
The ranger said the newborn calf was extremely rare and was thriving despite the harsh sunlight, which wasn’t suitable for its delicate skin.
The adorable elephant was caught on camera by a wildlife photographer. (Credit: Caters)
Mostafa shared: “He was surrounded and very well protected by the herd, trying to feed from the mum and walk with her.
“He was just 8 hours old. We were thrilled to see such an amazing sight.”
Keep thriving, baby elephant.
A lucky safari ranger couldn’t believe his eyes after he spotted a rare baby pink elephant calf in the wild.
Tim Jansen van Vuuren was leading a group through the MalaMala Game Reserve in Kruger National Park, South Africa, last month when he made the unusual sighting, which looks like it would be more at home in a Disney movie.
The mammal, the smallest of the herd at no older than two or three weeks at the time, was surrounded by her family as she sweetly played with her siblings.
Her rare pink colouring is believed to have been caused by leucism, a condition which causes a partial loss of pigmentation but is different to albinism.
Tim, from Benoni, South Africa, said: “I felt pretty ecstatic because it’s something completely out of the ordinary that I’ve only ever heard about.
“The elephant herd allowed us to get quite close to the little one so the whole experience was fantastic,” he added, explaining that the occurrence was the first time it had been seen on the reserve.
He continued: “I’ve been visiting the bush for my entire life and have been working in the environment for close on six years now and have never seen anything like this.
“It is an extremely large area without fences blocking the elephants’ movements into neighbouring reserves, so we may potentially never see that little elephant again.”
Leucistic elephants’ pigmentation darkens as they grow older, only leaving pink behind their ears.
Timothy said: “The elephant has a condition known as leucism where there is a partial loss of pigmentation to the skin and rest of the body.
“It is a genetic disorder that will affect them for life.
“This is by far one of the most interesting things I have seen in the wild.
“Things like this are not very well documented so it’s very interesting to witness as you won’t find things like this in books.”
Leucism doesn’t just affect elephants as it has also been seen on other animals, like seals.