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