An extremely rare albino honey badger was caught on camera at the De Hoop Nature Reserve in the Western Cape recently.
‘BirdLife South Africa and Panthera were granted a research permit to undertake a camera trap survey at De Hoop Nature Reserve to determine the relative abundance of predators which could be a potential threat to the establishment of a new penguin colony at De Hoop,’ CapeNature said in a statement.
‘While the purpose of the camera trap survey was focused on species such as leopard and caracal, which have been known to predate on penguins, all species captured on the cameras were recorded.’
‘Among the images captured was an extremely rare albino honey badger (Mellivora capensis), which is the first record of this condition for this species in scientific literature (although we are aware of at least one other record within CapeNature),’ said De Hoop.
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Albinism is an inherited disorder that occurs due to a reduction in or absence of melatonin formation. This usually results in reduced fitness for wild animals, which means a reduced chance of survival, and as a result, it is an extremely rare trait as natural selection reduces the chances of this gene being passed on.
The reduced fitness is caused by reduced visual perception, increased sensitivity to solar radiation and reduced camouflage – the latter of which affects both predators and prey.
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