Poznáme to z filmov: smetný kôš na americkom predmestí nemá šancu prežiť noc bez toho, aby ho nenavštívili túlavé mačky, krysy, vačice alebo medvedíky čistotné. Kendra Smith z Oregonu mala obrovské šťastie, keď sa jej podarilo objektívom zachytiť výnimočné zvieratko.
Tento živočích, ktorého miestni ochranári nazvali Moby Rick, sa počas noci objavil v blízkosti domov, uvádza Laughing Squid. Spoločnosť počas hodovania mu robila vačica a medvedík čistotný. Čo to je zač? Ako sa zvieratko s arktickým sfarbením objavilo v Oregone?
The Mystery of the White Raccoon Every once in a while someone sends us a photo of a critter with very different coloration than people are used to seeing. For the most part, these are piebald, or leucistic deer. Leucism is a lack of pigment that keeps an animal from having a uniform coloration. In deer, it mostly presents as large white spots or patches in their otherwise brown coat. When this raccoon showed up in our Facebook messages, we started calling him Moby Rick for obvious reasons.Why isn’t this an albino raccoon? Because albinism is the complete lack of pigmentation, while leucism is a partial lack of pigmentation. While this raccoon is nearly all white, you can tell from its toes and nose that it’s not completely white. So, how rare is this? It’s difficult to say. There are probably many leucistic raccoons, but with this type of coloration, few would make it to adulthood. But enough do to keep it popping up in raccoon populations from time to time. No, really, how rare is this? In short, nobody at ODFW has seen a nearly completely white raccoon in the wild before.One other possibility is that Moby Rick was not wild at all and was actually bred for this coloration and either escaped or was released back into the wild.As a quick reminder, raccoons and other wildlife are wild life. Please don’t feed them or remove them from the wild. They are perfectly capable of feeding themselves, and removing them from the wild is illegal. Breeders from outside the state may sell some of these types of animals, but Oregon requires special permits to be able to have them.Video provided by Kendra Smith
Posted by Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife on Thursday, January 14, 2021
Nevšedný medvedík čistotný
Aj keď to tak vôbec nevyzerá, je to medvedík čistotný. Niekto, komu prírodopis nie je cudzí, si teraz rozžiari svetielko v hlave: No jasné! Bielu srsť má preto, lebo je albín a chýba mu v srsti pigment! Toto tvrdenie naozaj nie je ďaleko od pravdy, nezodpovedá však realite na sto percent.
Za všetko môže absencia pigmentu
Fenomén, ktorý sa postaral o jedinečnú vizáž tohto medvedíka, sa nazýva leucizmus. Tento pojem vyjadruje čiastočnú absenciu pigmentu, ktorá sa môže prejaviť naozaj rozmanitými spôsobmi. Dôkazom toho, že nejde o albína, sú oči zvieraťa, ktoré nemajú červenú farbu.
Oregonskí prírodovedci sa pri videu vyjadrili, že vidieť čisto bieleho medvedíka čistotného je niečo extrémne zriedkavé a počas svojej kariéry tú česť nemal nikto z nich. Príroda je krutá a je možné, že aj keď sa takéto jedince rodia, kvôli sfarbeniu majú malú šancu dožiť sa dospelosti.
Zdroj: laughingsquid.com, facebook.com
