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The world’s first known albino ocelot distresses scientists

The world’s only known albino ocelot is blind but not noticeable. She displays her agility when faced with a straw-filled paper package that taunts her from a rope. The videos released show how he stops and hits several times to destroy it: inside is a piece of meat, a stimulus to keep his hunting instincts intact. She lives in the Medellin Conservation Park, in a shelter without tall structures that put her at risk and with graduated lighting. It is easy prey in a forest, where it cannot camouflage itself to hunt the birds or reptiles it needs to survive. That is why it arrived a year ago, almost dead due to its unusual white color, the product of a disease that, according to experts, is an indication of the deterioration of the native forests of Antioquia.

The keepers now know that it is an ocelot, one of Colombia’s wild cats such as the jaguar, puma, margay and jaguarundi. It was difficult to identify her because body dimensions and skin colors are usually used. When it was discovered, its small size suggested that it was a cat and, when it grew up, it was conjectured that it was a jaguarundi. Finally, studies in the laboratories of the University of Antioquia and the National Police identified it as a leopardus pardalis or ocelot. A few weeks ago, she went from being “the albino feline” to being “the albino ocelot,” according to Jorge Londono, a spokesman for the park, by phone.

It weighs almost 13 kilos, when on December 23, 2021 it arrived with just over 400 grams. He has not stopped eating, so much so that the keepers had to reduce his diet from 900 to 700 grams of meat a day. She loves meat, especially chicken blood sausage, and has a weakness for the smell of lavender that her ethologist, Elisa Madrigal, uses to stimulate her. The park keeps her name secret to prevent visitors from calling her name and misleading her.

The feline appeared in November 2021 in the Canon del Mata, a wooded area in Amalfi (northeast of Antioquia). A child took care of her for a few days, until the mayor’s office notified the Regional Autonomous Corporation of the Center of Antioquia (Corantioquia). The entity, in charge of protecting biodiversity, rescued her from an almost certain death: she was malnourished, with digestive and respiratory problems. Her white color and the visible blood irrigation in her iris, which makes her eyes red, evidenced the absence of melamine. That is, albinism.

Scientists believe that the mother abandoned her white calf to protect her healthy siblings that were left exposed in the den when the mother went hunting. The white color could make them easy prey for an owl, a hawk or an eagle. Furthermore, the blindness made it difficult for the albino to breastfeed. Maternal instinct may have prioritized protecting healthy offspring.

The ocelot weighs almost 13 kilos, when on December 23, 2021 it arrived with just over 400 grams.Courtesy

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Found emotions

Biologist Catalina Diaz Vasco comments by phone that the discovery has generated mixed emotions in her. “Scientific curiosity” makes her happy to work with a unique specimen: she knows that research on this ocelot will help those who in the future are interested in studying the rare genetic mutations present in felines. Also, she feels an emotional bond. “We take great care of her,” she remarks. However, she knows that the animal has suffered and that “it is not a good sign” about the state of the forests in Antioquia. “A number of posts are going to have a celebratory tone, but we don’t have to be happy that it exists,” she emphasizes.

The albino ocelot shows high levels of consanguinity in the population in which it inhabits and this generates concern that the species may disappear locally, despite not being classified globally as severely endangered. Diaz explains that albinism is a recessive mutation, which is only activated when both parents carry the gene. “The child has to have a copy from each parent to express the gene,” says the scientist. It is unusual for two carriers to match unless they live in small populations.

The biologist from Corantioquia, Ana Cristina Fernandez, remarks by telephone that it is probable that there have been other cases of albino ocelots. “The gene that causes albinism has been circulating for who knows when,” she says. Other specimens were probably never found. They died earlier, which is likely as they can only live a few weeks in a hostile environment.

The cats are left in a vulnerable situation because human activity has increased in the area where they live. Around 490,000 hectares of forest have been lost in Antioquia between 2000 and 2009, according to a report by the Antioquia Forest Observatory. Cattle ranching, mining, and coffee plantations interrupt the natural corridors that connect the forests. This affects the ability of ocelots to reproduce with more genetically diverse specimens. Diaz comments that fragmentation is a serious problem, despite the fact that the forests in the municipality of Amalfi are still of good quality. “It is more important to have small, well-connected pieces of forest than a larger, but isolated piece of forest,” he remarks.

It is important that the ocelots do not disappear because they are essential to maintain the forests.
It is important that the ocelots do not disappear because they are essential to maintain the forests.Courtesy

The plan to reverse this situation is to reforest some areas and sign agreements with farm owners who agree to preserve strips of existing vegetation. For Diaz, it is important that the ocelots do not disappear because they are essential to maintain the forests, which in turn provide essential services for human activity. The scientist describes them as part of a “machine”: “The ecosystem where these animals live provides clean water and protects against soil erosion. But for it to be able to give us all that, it has to be healthy and it needs all its parts. If the ocelots are not there, the herbivores that they eat will overexploit the forest.”

For now, the albino ocelot is safe and is a source of pride for the Conservation Park. “She is spoiled because she is a symbol of rescue and refuge, recovery and resilience,” says spokesman Jorge Londono. And it’s true: the agility with which it moves contrasts with the sick little animal found in Amalfi. She is very well cared for, with a doctor on hand 24 hours a day and a nutritionist. In addition, it does not waste energy hunting or raising children. For this reason, ocelots in captivity can live 21 years, compared to 7 or 9 for those who remain in the wild.

But the case leaves several unknowns. The gene mutation usually comes with others that are also serious, such as heart deformities or kidney problems. At the moment they have not expressed themselves in it, but there are no certainties about their life expectancy.

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