Echidnas are shy creatures, and even individuals without albinism are rarely seen in the wild.
Residents of New South Wales, Australia, have spotted two extremely rare albino echidnas in the space of just two weeks.
"Meet Raffie, Bathurst's rare albino echidna," Bathurst Regional Council staff wrote on Facebook."We thought he is just too beautiful not to share, and particularly rare with only a handful of the egg-laying mammals, or monotremes, ever sighted in Australia." Eleven days after the first sighting, Australia’s Wildlife Information, Rescue and Education Service published images and a video of a second albino short-nosed echidna that appeared to have been hit by a car and sustained minor injuries in New South Wales."This rare albino echidna, nicknamed Mr Spike, was released into WIRES' care recently after a suspected motor vehicle collision," WIRES staff wrote in a Facebook post on May 12.
Short-beaked echidnas that don't have albinism vary in color, from light brown in the hotter, northern regions to dark brown further south and black in Tasmania, according to the Department of Planning and Environment. Although they are widely distributed in New South Wales, echidnas are rarely seen in the wild due to their shy, reclusive nature.
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