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Scientists Confirm The World’s 1st-Ever Images Capturing A Leucistic Puma
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Scientists Confirm The World’s 1st-Ever Images Capturing A Leucistic Puma

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As you’ve probably already noticed, we like to write articles about cats. And as we’ve already noticed, you like to read these articles just as much as we like to create them. But today, let’s mix things up a bit by putting a twist on this whole cat thing. Today, let’s talk about a wild cat that also happens to be an extremely rare one.

Recently, four camera trap pictures from the year 2013 have resurfaced on the interwebs, and turns out, these photos capture the first-ever confirmed case of a wild cougar with leucism.

More info: researchgate.net

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    These 4 photos were captured in Brazil back in 2013 using a trap camera

    Image credits: ICMBio

    These pictures were taken in Serra dos Órgãos National Park located in southeastern Brazil’s Atlantic Forest 7 years ago using a trap camera. Then, a few years later, an article published in the “Cat News” journal confirmed that these pictures, in fact, captured the first-ever confirmed case of a wild cougar with leucism.

    In case you didn’t know, leucism is an abnormal condition caused by a genetic mutation and is characterized by the partial loss of pigmentation. Animals with leucism have white, pale, or patchy coloration of the skin, hair, feathers, scales, or cuticles, but not the eyes.

    In 2018, a study confirmed that these pictures capture the first-ever seen case of a leucistic puma

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    Image credits: ICMBio

    According to National Geographic, genetic color aberrations, such as albinism and leucism, are generally pretty common among wild cats, but for mysterious reasons, they’re almost unheard of in pumas.

    “That shows you how extremely unusual it is,” executive director of the Wildlife Conservation Society’s Big Cats Program Luke Hunter told National Geographic. “It’s a striking set of photos.”

    After these pictures were taken, the animal was never seen again

    Image credits: ICMBio

    Scientists have yet to figure it out why color-changing genes are so rare among these animals. “My best guess is that the distant ancestor of pumas was uniformly colored, and that has been maintained in the species ever since. But that’s just a consequence of the randomness of mutation, the roll of the genetic dice,” Hunter told National Geographic.

    Even though leucism is pretty common among wild cats, for unknown reasons, it’s almost unheard of in cougars

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    Image credits: ICMBio

    Sadly, after the fateful encounter back in 2013, the animal hasn’t been seen ever again. “The camera trap monitoring project restarted last year, but we still have no new record of this animal or any other odd-colored pumas,” Cecília Cronemberger de Faria, an environmental analyst for the national park where the cat was sighted, shared with National Geographic.

    And here are some more pics capturing the beauty and uniqueness of leucistic animals

    Image credits: Wikimedia Commons

    Image credits: Wikimedia Commons

    Image credits: Wikimedia Commons

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    Image credits: Wikimedia Commons

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    Here’s what people had to say about these photos capturing the white puma

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    Julija Svidraitė

    Julija Svidraitė

    Author, Community member

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    Julija Svidraitė is an editor here at Bored Panda who has a bachelor's degree in Psychology. Before starting her journey at BP, she had worked as a social media specialist at a marketing agency. She has also tried herself in a few different fields working as an intern: from practicing graphic design at a social media marketing agency, to being an assistant at a psychiatric hospital. Besides writing, Julija is also very passionate about illustrating, drinking coffee, and watching crime documentaries. You can find her in Bored Panda Office or reach her at julija.s@boredpanda.com.

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    Julija Svidraitė

    Julija Svidraitė

    Author, Community member

    Julija Svidraitė is an editor here at Bored Panda who has a bachelor's degree in Psychology. Before starting her journey at BP, she had worked as a social media specialist at a marketing agency. She has also tried herself in a few different fields working as an intern: from practicing graphic design at a social media marketing agency, to being an assistant at a psychiatric hospital. Besides writing, Julija is also very passionate about illustrating, drinking coffee, and watching crime documentaries. You can find her in Bored Panda Office or reach her at julija.s@boredpanda.com.

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    KillDie RezRepeat
    Community Member
    4 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

    A more clear definition of an uncommon word, Leucistic, within the story would have made it more compelling. My engagement was interrupted by being forced to go to another site to look it up.

    Raine Soo
    Community Member
    4 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

    Thanks for the post. Out of all those leucistic animals, I have only ever personally encountered the squirrel. I have seen blond ones too. I also hope that the puma is hiding from the most dangerous animals on earth: humans.

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    KillDie RezRepeat
    Community Member
    4 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

    A more clear definition of an uncommon word, Leucistic, within the story would have made it more compelling. My engagement was interrupted by being forced to go to another site to look it up.

    Raine Soo
    Community Member
    4 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

    Thanks for the post. Out of all those leucistic animals, I have only ever personally encountered the squirrel. I have seen blond ones too. I also hope that the puma is hiding from the most dangerous animals on earth: humans.

    Load More Comments
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