Breathtakingly beautiful! The world's first white-to-white lynx has been spotted in Spain; its pure white plumage makes it look like a mythical fairy.

 

A stunning wildlife spectacle recently occurred in the mountains of Jaén province in southern Spain, where a photographer captured a Leucistic Iberian lynx with snow-white fur and an air of mystery and nobility. This is not only the first time a Leucistic lynx has been spotted in Spain, but also a milestone that has been officially confirmed by the scientific community for the first time globally.

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by Angeliyo 📸 (@angeliyo_o)

The photographer who captured the leucism on camera is 24-year-old Ángel Hidalgo Garrido, a long-time nature documentary enthusiast who frequently sets up hidden cameras in mountainous areas. On October 22nd, Garrido unexpectedly discovered the rare leucism during a routine shoot and was breathtakingly amazed. He later wrote on Instagram: "When the sunlight shone on it, I really thought I was seeing things. It shimmered, like an elf from a fairytale."

In the video, the lynx's fur is a pale golden-white, with only the tip of its tail and behind its ears retaining black stripes. However, its eyes are a typical amber color, indicating that it exhibits leucism rather than albinism, as its eyes still retain pigment. The footage garnered significant attention from Spanish and international media, but the photographer refused to disclose the filming location to avoid disturbing wildlife.

The Proyecto Lince (Iberian Lynx Conservation Project) team of experts has confirmed that this is the first officially recorded case of an albino Iberian lynx. Research indicates that the albino gene is extremely rare; the fur is lighter but not entirely white, and the eyes lack red, clearly distinguishing it from albinism.

Dr. María José, the conservation team coordinator, stated, "The emergence of this albino individual demonstrates that the genetic diversity of the population is recovering. This is an important indicator of ecological recovery." She added that cases of albino individuals in wild cats are extremely rare, previously only sporadically recorded in jaguars and African lions; its appearance in the Iberian lynx is highly symbolic.

The Iberian lynx was once one of the most endangered felines in Europe. According to the World Wildlife Fund (WWF), in 2002, only 94 individuals remained in the wild, facing extinction. After 20 years of efforts by the Spanish and Portuguese governments to promote captive breeding, habitat restoration, and rewilding programs, the population had recovered to 1,668 individuals by 2023. The International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) also downgraded its conservation status from "Critically Endangered" to "Vulnerable" in the same year.

WWF Spain stated that the discovery of this white-skinned lynx is a significant symbolic achievement in conservation efforts. The video and related data have been submitted to the Spanish National Museum of Natural Sciences for archiving, and researchers expect to release a full genetic analysis report in 2026.