‘Truly rare’ albino creature stuns park rangers in Kenya. See ‘ghost of the wild’
While patrolling a national park in northern Kenya, park rangers happened upon a “truly rare” scene that left them stunned: an albino creature. Photos show the unusual animal, described as a “ghost of the wild.”
A team of park rangers recently headed into Sibiloi National Park as part of a “routine patrol,” the Kenya Wildlife Service said in an Oct. 27 Facebook post. While passing near a grassland in the park, rangers noticed a herd of antelope with one white individual.
Rangers identified it as an albino tiang, or Northern topi, officials said.
Photos show the white Northern topi standing near some normally colored topis. Its coloring stands out against the herd and the surrounding plants.
Sibiloi National Park described the albino topi as a “ghost of the wild” and “something truly extraordinary” in an Oct. 27 Facebook post.
Topis are a species of “medium-sized antelopes” with five subspecies, including the tiang, according to the African Wildlife Foundation. They can weigh over 300 pounds, measure up to 50 inches tall and have “thick, heavily ringed” horns.
Generally, topis live in herds of up to 20 individuals but sometimes congregate in larger groups, the foundation said.
Wildlife officials described the albino Northern topi sighting as “a truly rare sight.”
“Moments like these remind us of the beauty and surprises nature continues to reveal, and of the importance of protecting these wild spaces for generations to come,” wildlife officials said.
Sibiloi National Park is in northwestern Kenya, near the border with Ethiopia and the disputed border with South Sudan.
