Fully albino giant panda spotted for first time

Spot the unspotted panda.

An image of a fully albino giant panda lumbering along in the mountains of China’s Wolong National Nature Reserve was released Saturday by researchers who say it’s the first time an entirely white panda has been identified.

An infrared camera captured the pic of the panda pawing its way through the forest at an elevation of about 2,000 meters, according to China Daily.

The panda’s whole body is covered in white fur in the image, and it has piercing red eyes, a striking contrast to the typical image of a panda with black arms and legs and large black spots circling shimmering black eyes.

“This is the first time a fully albino wild giant panda has been caught on camera, indicating there must be a gene mutation in the giant panda population,” said Li Sheng, a researcher at Peking University’s School of Life Sciences, according to the South China Morning Post. “Judging from the photo, the panda is physically strong and taking steady steps, suggesting the gene mutation is not affecting its normal life.”

Panda experts knew that albinism occurred in pandas, according to the BBC, but had never before captured a fully white panda on camera. Officials said they would continue to monitor to see if the albino panda has any relationship to the nearby giant panda population.

Sheng said the panda is probably around one or two years old, and the lack of pigmentation would have no effect on the animal’s physiological functions or its ability to reproduce. The bear might, however, be more sensitive to the sun.

If it does reproduce, its offspring would only inherit the albinism if both parents carried it as the trait is recessive, according to officials. They said they will attempt to continue to track the snow-white bear by installing more motion cameras.

A 2014 census found about 1,800 giant pandas alive in the world, according to the World Wide Fund For Nature. Their status is “vulnerable," according to the WWF. They need to eat at least 25 pounds of bamboo each day.