Rhino Africa Safaris

Genetic defects and anomalies in African animals

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African animals like animals the world over are sometimes born with genetic defects. The most common and well known of these is Albinism. Albinism is a congenital disorder characterized by the absence of pigment in the skin due to absence or defect of an enzyme involved in the production of melanin. Elephants, Impala, Giraffe, Snakes, some bird species  and several other species have all been spotted in Africa in their albino form. In 2009 a BBC cameraman spotted a very rare Albino elephant calf in the Okavango Delta, Botswana (Find that article here) in Elephants albino’s are not white but rather pink or reddish in colour.

The most famous of ‘white’ animals in Africa is the white lion. However white lions are not Albino, instead the white color is caused by a recessive gene known as chinchilla or color inhibitor. At one point the Timbavati Game Reserve was well known for having a small population of white lions, and these are thought to be the forefathers of almost all white lions in the world. For the most part these can only be found in Zoos and private collections, although at Sanbona Private Game Reserve on the Garden Route there is a free roaming pride of white lions and there are rumours of white lion cubs being born in the Timbavati again.

The complete opposite of Albinism is Melanism, which is the occurrence of an increased amount of dark pigmentation, resulting from the presence of to much melanin. This results in black or dark coloured animals. In Africa black leopards have been spotted and black impala occur, in fact at Botlierskop Private Game Reserve in South Africa their is a herd of over 150 black impalas! And in the Aberdare Mountains of Kenya there exists a population of black serval cats, here their colouring is thought to help them gain more heat from the sun in the cold weather high in the mountains.

Many animals with genetic defects including Albinism and Melanism don’t last long in the wild. The African bush is a harsh and unforgiving place and lack of camouflage, inability to move or feed properly and so forth mean most animals born with genetic defects are soon prey to predators or simply cannot survive. This much is true for a baby elephant spotted in Mala Mala Private Game Reserve in August 2006. Former Mala Mala ranger Anthony Harding explained that this baby survived for only a few months with a deformed back leg which made it incredibly difficult for it to move around. Supported by the herd it lived longer than would normally be expected and traveled between neighboring private game reserves. It is suspected that the baby finally died under the claws and jaws of a lion pride somewhere within Mala Mala’s borders. The video below was shot on a small digital camera so isn’t the best quality but it shows clearly the difficulty this poor elephant had in getting around. Thank you Anthony for the pictures and video.

EDIT: Warren Pearson an ex-Londolozi ranger tells us on Facebook that he believes it was a pack of hyena and not a pride of lion as previously stated. Either way, a sad end to a sad tale.