White Moose cow
by Lennart Augustsson
They say that this is not an albino but som other kind of genetic tendency. The black eye is a sign of that. Her in western pats of Värmland, Sweden you can se these white mooses quite often. Brown cows get white calfs and white cows get brown calfs. Some are both brown and white. The swedish moose is a bit smaller than those from Alaska but I think it is the same species. (Alces Alces)
1/25 s at f/5,6 ISO1600 Nikon D300
Comments
16 commentsWelcome to the NPN Wildlife Gallery (again!
Biologically I find this very interesting - the cervid equivalent of our white Spirit Bears! Do you know if this colour-variant is well-studied (i.e., are the genetics well-understood)? I'm guessing that there are few natural predators left in the area where these white moose are found (these guys are not what I'd called well-camouflaged!)?
Cheers...thanks for sharing this...
Brad
What an interesting pic to start with ! Nice job on getting the exposure right at such a high iso
, awesome congratulations
I don´t know about any genetic studies on theese mooses.
There are wolfes in the area but I am not so sure that the white color is a disadvantge. In winter time it could be the opposite.
Hunters have often saved the white ones so there they have an advantage.
Oscar.
P.S. - Regarding your species comment, the European moose is a slightly different subspecies than the Alaskan. Yours is Alces alces alces and ours is Alces alces gigas.
Anand, I have some pictures of wolverine but they are not allowed here on NPN because the wolverines are pulled with meat in front of a hide. It is almost impossible to take photos of wolverine in another way.
Guy, the photo is taken just after she dropped her two calfs. One white and one brown-white. Maybe I can find a photo to show later on.
Biologically, very interesting! This lady stands out like a sore thumb, so there must not be many predators around.
I'd sure love to see a brown and white calf!
Welcome to NPN - sure looking forard to more images from you!
Sandy
You did incredibly well getting a sharp image at 1/25 sec! I do miss the virtual feet a bit here I must admit. Further I would try to reduce the noise in the BG a bit.
Ken Archer
I saw a special on TV about the someone in Africa (not a nature lover) breeding white lions for hunting. Hunters pay a LOT of money to bag a white lion. A sad and very un-sportsman sport. Fortunately there are others trying to get the white lions protected.