White Cougar Spotted in Brazil’s Atlantic Forest; A First of Its Kind

A recent photo of a white cougar has taken the internet by storm. The picture of the white cougar was taken at Serra dos Orgaos National Park that is located in the south-eastern part of Brazil’s Atlantic Forest. The picture was taken in 2013 and this is a confirmed case of genetic mutation that is also known as leucism. In this mutation, the whole body of the animal will turn white. 

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This is unusual and makes this cougar one of the rare animals found presently in the world. According to the Revista Pesquisa web portal, the cougar was spotted four times. The cougar was looking for new territory in the Atlantic Forest. Cougars are predators and their habitat stretches from Chile to Canada. After this spotting, the cougar was not spotted again. This has been corroborated by an environmental analyst, Cecelia Cronemberger de Faria.

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Be it a black panther or a puma or any other wild cat, this kind of genetic colour aberrations are very common among the wild cat species. However, they were not found in cougars. Luke Hunter, executive director of the Wildlife Conservation Society’s Big Cats Program said that this is unusual and one might not be able to see another white cougar in their lifetime. 

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Hunter added that no one has been able to deduce why the colour-changing genes are rare in cougars. Cougars have mostly muted colour tones in grey or tan. This uniform colour of the cougars has been maintained for such a long time. Hunter believes that the emergence of this white cougar might point out the randomness that happens in mutation. 

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Is colour change an advantage or a disadvantage?

The colour change has not yet been linked to any disadvantage or advantage on the part of the cougars. However, theories suggest that black panthers survive more in dense rainforests as the black coats can hide them in dimly lit forest settings. 

CAT news study authors believe that due to the shrinking of forests, lack of prey the emergence of white cougars could mean that inbreeding is happening among the wild cats. However, Hunter believes that since no white cougars were spotted again, inbreeding was not the case.

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