“At first glance, you might think it’s an albino wolf,” says Israel Nature and Parks Agency ecologist Dotan Rotem, referring to a video the agency recently released of a white wolf spotted in the Negev. But that is not the case here. The wolf is more likely to suffer from another disease that causes the partial loss of pigmentation, called leucism. Similar to albinism, leucism results in white, pale, or mottled coloring of the skin, hair, feathers, scales, or cuticles. However, albino animals have pink eyes, while the pigmentation of the iris remains dark in leucistic animals.
The Nature and Parks Authority prefers not to release the exact location where the wolf was pictured, fearing curious people might disturb the animal.
Original Article Written By: Katharina Hoeftmann Ciobotaru
