Photographer David Aquino of Nanaimo captured this image description and submitted it to www.vifreedaily.com.
“I took the attached photo yesterday, March 20, 2018, on Newcastle Island which is located in the Nanaimo harbour,” he said. “These blonde or “Champagne” raccoons are very rare, but because of inbreeding on Newcastle Island there typically is one or more around, year in and year out.”
The blonde raccoon has a condition called Leucism which, according to Wikipedia is a condition in which there is partial loss of pigmentation in an animal resulting in white, pale, or patchy coloration of the skin, hair, feathers, scales or cuticle, but not the eyes. Unlike albinism, it is caused by a reduction in multiple types of pigment, not just melanin.”
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