Is That Really A Pink Elephant? Adorable Albino Calf Spotted In South Africa

The tiny calf at a watering hole (Caters)

Seeing a pink elephant is usually not a good sign.

But you are not hallucinating, this one is for real and has been spotted in South Africa’s Kruger National Park.

The tiny calf was seen drinking from a river alongside its mother at the park close to Johannesburg.

The pink calf is believed to be an albino, an extremely rare phenomenon among African elephants.

The pink elephant with the rest of its herd (Caters)

It also appears that the elephant has been accepted by the rest of the herd despite its appearance.

The sighting was made by a tourist Nicki Coertze.

“We were watching the elephants drinking at the Shingwedsi River when we noticed the albino elephant calf,” said Nicki.

“We took pictures of the elephant through the car window, I was trying to keep super still in spite of the excitement of the others in the car.

“I was really hoping the pink ellie would play in the water a bit, and wash all the dirt off, so we could see him in all his pinkness.”

NIcki is no stranger to Kruger and said the discovery was extremely rare.

“I have been visiting Kruger since my early childhood, and have over the last many years being spending at least 20 to 30 days in Kruger every year. I have never seen an albino elephant before.

“And then, none of my many friends have either. So bearing that in mind, I have an idea that this is a once in a lifetime sighting for me.

“Albino Elephants are renowned to not have strong eye sight.

“Not one of my images shows the eyes wide open. They tend to have pink eyes that are very sensitive to sunlight.

“Amazingly, I think we were the only ones excited about the Albino Elephant.

“As far as the rest of the herd was concerned they seemed to just accept him in their stride.”