VLADIVOSTOK (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 19th February, 2021) Hunting control officers in a Russian Far Eastern forest have spotted a rare animal breed until now "unknown to science," which is likely a raccoon dog with a rare genetic mutation, the Amur Tiger Centre, a Russian wildlife conservation nonprofit, said on Friday.
"An animal unknown to science has been discovered by inspectors of the Primorsky Okhotnadzor [a hunting control agency]. Experts of the Ministry of Forestry and Wildlife Conservation of the Primorsky Territory and the Amur Tiger Centre believe that the animal caught on the video is very likely an albino raccoon dog or a carrier of a rare genetic mutation similar to the famous 'white' Bengal tiger," the wildlife nonprofit wrote on Instagram, attaching the footage.
The video features an animal with light and thick fur and fluffy tail, which first attempts to hide behind bushes in the snow, but ultimately decides to run away.
The nonprofit hopes to get a better look at the unusual animal in the future.
"The animal went away, but as I understand, there will be attempts to find it and get a better look at it. The phenomenon is certainly rare, although we are not inclined to believe that this is a new species for our fauna," Vadim Shkodin, the spokesman for the nonprofit's Vladivostok branch, said.
He echoed� the view that this could be a rare genetic variation of the ordinary raccoon dog, a member of the dog family native to the region.
