Very, very rare white squirrels in the world, elves in the snow

Photo by

@norichan5050

Wildlife-loving photographer Riki Takada lives and works in Tokachi, southeastern Hokkaido. This vast green plain, fresh air, clear water quality, cultivate rich crops, known as the "Japanese granary", is one of the most developed areas of animal husbandry in Japan, the world's rare snow white Ezo squirrel inhabits here.

Wildlife experts estimate that fewer than 1 in 1 million squirrels carry an albino gene.

As you can imagine, white squirrels are very conspicuous when crawling around in the woods, like a white elf, but they lack protection colors so that they are easy to prey, making their survival rates low and their numbers even rarer. Only in the snowy winter can they have a little more protective color.

The white squirrel in the photo has long, furry ears, exquisite and small, which is very conspicuous in the sun, and feels like a cute little white rabbit.

The squirrels we usually see are all coffee-colored, with fluffy tails, pointed mouths, and watery black eyes, and they move deftly between trees. And the white squirrels in this group of snow photographed by Riki Takada are really impressive, they are covered with this rare white fur, jumping around in the snow foraging! It is a strong contrast with the common brown/gray squirrel.

What are white squirrels and where do they come from? Is it a unique species? Is it a variation? In fact, there is a species of tree squirrel whose white fur seems to characterize the entire species, at least in parts of its distribution. It is the oriental tree squirrel genus (Callosciurus translates to "beautiful squirrel"), found in Thailand and other parts of Southeast Asia (Thorington and Ferrel, 2006). The other belongs to an as-yet-unknown species that was recently discovered on the island of Palawan in the Philippines and is considered endangered. So if you see a non-captive white squirrel, it's almost certainly a color variant of a native species of our genus of squirrels.

Such a beautiful and rare white squirrel, really like a genie in the snow, too cute and cute! Super rare white squirrel photos, they blend with the snow scene, more like the elves of the fairy tale world.