“We were astonished because it was something so beautiful, we didn’t think it was an albino pudu.”
Albinism is a condition that leads to little or no production of a pigment called melanin, that can cause the colour of a creature’s fur to be white.
Albino animals can have a harder time in the wild, as they often have poor eyesight and their white appearance means they aren’t able to hide from predators as well.
But pudu expert Javier Cabello says that, on the Chiloe Island, there aren’t many animals that seek out the pudu as prey, meaning that albino animals can survive in nature and become adults.