China
A growing number of albino (white-skinned) animals in Shennogjia nature reserve in central part of the nation has got the country's biologists puzzled about the cause. People have reported seeing bears, snakes and river deer with white skin or fur in the dense forests of the sprawling Shennogjia reserve.
Zoologists have recently confirmed that wildlife workers had captured a white snake, a white turtle and a white river deer during two major field surveys in the region between the late 1970s and mid 1980s.
Noted explorer Zhang Jinxing had also revealed that during his stay at the Shennogjia forest areas, he had encountered several albino animals. Zhang was conducting field research for three years in the early 1990s in that region.
Tang Mingliang, a professor of the school of biology at Wuhan University, China, said that no significant differences had been observed between the habits of these albino creatures and their usual, "normal' counterparts. The white snakes, for instance, are often seen in the company of the normal green ones near the brooks in the mountains, while the white beer is an omnivorous beast just like its brown peers and has similar habits, according to Tang, who has visited Shennogjia nature reserve several times.
He said that so far, Chinese zoologists had not found a convincing explanation for this strange phenomenon. He speculated that it might be due to the special geographic location of the ancient Shennogjia mountain, that has supported wildlife since the fourth glacier period.
Related Content
- Clean energy transitions programme: annual report 2023
- Fiscal implications of global decarbonization
- Integrating co-benefits into Nationally Determined Contributions, climate policies and air pollution policies in Asia
- Used heavy- duty vehicles and the environment: a global overview of used heavy-duty vehicles- flow, scale and regulation
- Donkeys in global trade: wildlife crime, welfare, biosecurity and the impact on women
- Reducing the cost of capital: strategies to unlock clean energy investment in emerging and developing economies