Volume 59, Issue 326, February 2023

First photographic record of albinism in chital (Axis axis) from Chitwan National Park, Nepal

Abhinaya Pathak^1♦, Arjun Tamang², Bishal Sintan³, Sujan Khanal⁴, Bikash Pathak⁵, Prashamsa Paudel⁶

¹Department of National Parks and Wildlife Conservation, Babarmahal, Kathmandu, Nepal
²Nature Guide Association, Chitwan, Nepal
³Chitwan National Park, Kasara, Chitwan, Nepal
⁴Institute of Forestry, Pokhara Campus, Tribhuwan University
⁵Community Based Anti-Poaching Unit, Chitwan, Nepal
⁶Central Department of Zoology, Kathmandu, Nepal

^♦Corresponding author
Department of National Parks and Wildlife Conservation, Babarmahal, Kathmandu, Nepal

ABSTRACT

Chital or spotted deer (Axis axis) is one of the important cervid in Chitwan National Park of Nepal. They are easily observed roaming around. However, albino chital is barely found in the park. This study presents the first photographic report of albino chital in buffer zone community forest of the park. Albinism is associated with melanin and rare mutation.

Keywords: chital, Chitwan National Park, buffer zone, albinism, melanin

Discovery, 2023, 59, e16d1018

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Published: February 2023