Pink-Hippo Pictures: Rare Youngster Spotted in Kenya
http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2010/09/photogalleries/100929-pink-hippo-hippopotamus-leucism-leucistic-science-kenya-pictures/
Pink Surprise
Photograph by Will and Matt Burrard-Lucas, Barcroft/Fame Pictures
A young, rosy-hued hippopotamus (pictured) was spotted in September along the banks of Kenya's Mara River—and the discovery has two photographers tickled, well, pink.
"Just as we started to tuck into our breakfast, we looked up and gawked, open-mouthed, as a pink hippopotamus emerged from the river!" English brothers Will and Matt Burrard-Lucas wrote on their blog on September 28.
The brothers were in the Masai Mara National Reserve (map) to photograph the annual wildebeest migration when they spotted the rare youngster. (Related: Great Migrations TV miniseries on the National Geographic Channel.)
The odd-looking animal has a condition called leucism, which occurs when the skin produces less pigment than usual, according to Joshua Charlton, assistant curator of mammals at the Bronx Zoo in New York City.
"It never ceases to amaze me how often nature reveals something unexpected," Will Burrard-Lucas wrote on the blog.
—Christine Dell'Amore
Published September 29, 2010
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