Published on: September 8, 2023
Cauvery Wildlife Sanctuary
Cauvery Wildlife Sanctuary
Why in news? The presence of a leucistic sambar has been documented in the Cauvery Wildlife Sanctuary
Highlights:
- This is the first recorded photographic record of a white form of sambar from this landscape though a white form of sambar deer was previously recorded in Bandipur Tiger Reserve.
What is leucism ?
- Leucism is a condition in which the pigmentation of an animal’s skin is missing, causing white or pale skin.
- This condition can occur naturally from birth due to a phenotype (a trait of any living being) that may have formed from a defect in the animal’s development.
- Albinism is a condition that arises due to a lack of melatonin in the animal’s skin, but the animal has pink or reddish eyes. But in leucism the animal lacks the pink eyes