the boreal forests of värmland, found in the borderlands between sweden and norway, are home to rare leucistic white moose – only about a hundred of them are known to exist. their fur colouration is triggered by a recessive mutation of the same gene associated with red hair and fair skin in humans.
leucisim is often mistaken for albinism, but the former condition does not affect pigment in the eyes. but it’s worth nothing that the velvet which covers the growing antlers of a bull is also white, as seen in the last photo. the third and fifth photos show a bull using a tree to rub off the velvet.
photos by johan brunzell and tommy johannson. see also leucistic humpback whales and black bears.