A white panther is a white specimen of any of several species

Species

In biology, a species is one of the basic units of biological classification and a taxonomic rank. A species is often defined as a group of organisms capable of interbreeding and producing fertile offspring. While in many cases this definition is adequate, more precise or differing measures are...

 of larger cat

Felidae

Felidae is the biological family of the cats; a member of this family is called a felid. Felids are the strictest carnivores of the thirteen terrestrial families in the order Carnivora, although the three families of marine mammals comprising the superfamily pinnipedia are as carnivorous as the...

. "Panther" is used in some parts of North America to mean the Cougar (Puma concolor), in South America to mean the Jaguar

Jaguar

The jaguar is a big cat, a feline in the Panthera genus, and is the only Panthera species found in the Americas. The jaguar is the third-largest feline after the tiger and the lion, and the largest in the Western Hemisphere. The jaguar's present range extends from Southern United States and Mexico...

 (Panthera onca) and elsewhere it refers to the Leopard

Leopard

The leopard , Panthera pardus, is a member of the Felidae family and the smallest of the four "big cats" in the genus Panthera, the other three being the tiger, lion, and jaguar. The leopard was once distributed across eastern and southern Asia and Africa, from Siberia to South Africa, but its...

 (Panthera pardus). A white panther may therefore be a white cougar, a white jaguar or a white leopard. Of these, white leopards appear to be the most common, although still very rare.

White panthers may be the result of albinism

Albinism

Albinism is a congenital disorder characterized by the complete or partial absence of pigment in the skin, hair and eyes due to absence or defect of an enzyme involved in the production of melanin...

, leucism or the chinchilla mutation

Cat coat genetics

The genetics of cat coat coloration, pattern, length, and texture is a complex subject, and many different genes are involved.- Genes involved in albinism, dominant white, and white spotting :...

. Unlike the black panther

Black panther

A black panther is typically a melanistic color variant of any of several species of larger cat. Wild black panthers in Latin America are black jaguars , in Asia and Africa they are black leopards , and in North America they may be black jaguars or possibly black cougars A black panther is...

, white panthers have not been selectively bred. The genus

Genus

In biology, a genus is a low-level taxonomic rank used in the biological classification of living and fossil organisms, which is an example of definition by genus and differentia...

 name Panthera is a taxonomic

Taxonomy

Taxonomy is the science of identifying and naming species, and arranging them into a classification. The field of taxonomy, sometimes referred to as "biological taxonomy", revolves around the description and use of taxonomic units, known as taxa...

 category that contains all the species of a particular group of felids, but as a general term "panther" is also used for other felids, more commonly for melanistic individuals, but also for white or normally-coloured (tawny or spotted) individuals.

White Jaguar

White Jaguars have grayish white fur with faint markings on the flanks. Albino Jaguars with almost invisible markings have also been reported. Albino and partially albino Jaguars have been reported from Paraguay. Spanish soldier-naturalist Félix de Azara

Félix de Azara

Félix Manuel de Azara was a Spanish military officer, naturalist and engineer. He was born in Barbunales, Aragon....

 described a Jaguar was so pale that its rosettes were only visible in certain lights. This corresponds to the pattern found on albino leopards. Rengger described a grayish white skin with faint shades of markings on the belly and flanks, the claws had been white according to the hunter who shot the animal.

White Leopard

In Harmsworthington Natural History (1910), Richard Lydekker

Richard Lydekker

Richard Lydekker was an English naturalist, geologist and writer of numerous books on natural history.-Biography:...

 wrote: Far rarer than black leopards are white ones, of which but very few have been met with. As well as white Leopards, there are pale cream Leopards with pale markings and blue eyes. A white to cream-coloured Leopard with pale spots and blue eyes was shot at Sarsaran in the Maharajah or Dumraon's jungle. Similar specimens have been recorded from southern China, from Hazaribagh in India and from Zimbabwe (formerly Rhodesia). R. I. Pocock reported a purely white skin from East Africa

Africa

Africa is the world's second largest and second most populous continent, after Asia. At about 30.2 million km² including adjacent islands, it covers 6% of the Earth's total surface area and 20.4% of the total land area...

; the spots were only visible in reflected light.

In "The Wildlife of India", E. P. Gee wrote that in 1947, a letter in "The Statesman" of Calcutta asked Who has ever seen a white leopard? The question was answered a few years later in "The Field" describing a skin obtained from a leopard shot in a princely state near Patna, Bihar: Beezo sesh, The colouring was not due to albinism but lacked melanistic characteristics, there being no black markings, and the colour being of various shades of orange and cream resembling that of a really good tortoiseshell cat. Another very pale-coloured Leopard was reported in "The Field" in 1953 regarding London Zoo

London Zoo

London Zoo is the world's oldest scientific zoo. It was opened in London on 27 April 1828, and was originally intended to be used as a collection for scientific study. It was eventually opened to the public in 1847...

's Leopard from West Persia exhibited in 1910 or 1911: indistinct, blackish spots in summer. When autumn came its now longer winter coat lost the spots and became so pale as to be difficult to see towards dusk. This indicates a chinchilla mutation instead of albinism. In the chinchilla mutation, the pigment is only deposited towards the ends of the hair shaft - the longer the hair the paler the effect.

A wild-caught albino Leopard called Jinx was kept at the Central Park Zoo

Central Park Zoo

The Central Park Zoo is a small zoo located in Central Park in New York City. It is part of an integrated system of four zoos and the New York Aquarium managed by the Wildlife Conservation Society , and is accredited by the Association of Zoos and Aquariums .The zoo began in the 1860s as a...

, USA between 1935-1960 and had originated from Mozambique

Mozambique

Mozambique, officially the Republic of Mozambique , is a country in southeastern Africa bordered by the Indian Ocean to the east, Tanzania to the north, Malawi and Zambia to the northwest, Zimbabwe to the west and Swaziland and South Africa to the southwest...

. Descriptions suggest the markings were visible in certain light. White leopards were apparently born at Los Angeles

Los Ángeles

Los Ángeles is the capital of the province of Biobío, in the commune of the same name, in Region VIII , in the center-south of Chile. It is located between the Laja and Biobío rivers. The population is 123,445 inhabitants...

 (USA) Wildlife Weighstation; these were leucistic, i.e. white but with normally coloured eyes. They developed spots as they grew older.

During the 1960s, one of two cubs born to a pair of normal spotted leopards at Colorado

Colorado

Colorado is a U.S. state that encompasses much of the Rocky Mountains as well as the northeastern portion of the Colorado Plateau and the western edge of the Great Plains...

's Cheyenne Mountain Zoological Park was pure white, but apparently turned black by 5 months old. In May 1978, a pair of white leopard cubs were born to normal (spotted) leopards at Rome

Rome

Rome is the capital of Italy and the country's largest and most populated city and comune, with over 2.7 million residents in . The city is located in the central-western portion of the Italian Peninsula, on the Tiber River within the Lazio region of Italy.Rome's history spans two and a half...

 Zoo. Both had to be hand-reared. The male cub was whitish with light grey spots and died shortly afterwards due to internal abnormalities. The female survived and was snow white in colour. As she grew older, her coat turned pale grey and the spots became visible.

A 1993 issue of the Journal of the Bombay Natural History Society contained an article listing 11 instances of albino, or partial-albino, leopards noted between 1905 and 1965. Most are from the Bihar and Madhya Pradesh areas of India

India

India , officially the Republic of India , is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by geographical area, the second-most populous country with over 1.2 billion people, and the most populous democracy in the world...

. Unlike melanism, albinism would make a Leopard more conspicuous and a less successful predator. Being both unusual and conspicuous, albino Leopards would have fallen victim to big game hunters' guns.

A white, but apparently not albino, leopard cub born in Africa was sold to a zoo in Japan in the spring of 1999 and is called "Nana". Two Leopard cubs were born at the Wildlife World Zoo in Arizona; one, named "Isis" was believed to be the only white Leopard to be born in captivity. Several experts confirmed that she has white skin, though she was also described as having spots. Blood tests on Isis and her parents were planned if she thrived and if her skin remained white. Claws 'N' Paws Wild Animal Park, Pennsylvania, USA, also claimed a white Leopard.

White Cougar

A white cougar has been photographed and was not albino but leucistic

Leucistic

Leucism is a condition characterized by reduced pigmentation in animals and humans. Unlike albinism, it is caused by a reduction in all types of skin pigment, not just melanin.- Details :...

 (white, but with pigmented skin and pigmented eyes). There are reports that a white cougar is displayed at the Walter Rothschild Zoological Museum

Walter Rothschild Zoological Museum

The Natural History Museum at Tring was the private museum of Lionel Walter, 2nd Baron Rothschild, today it is under the control of the Natural History Museum. It houses one of the finest collections of stuffed mammals, birds, reptiles and insects in the United Kingdom...

, Tring

Tring

Tring is a small market town and also a civil parish in the Chiltern Hills in Hertfordshire, England. Situated north-west of London and linked to London by the old Roman road of Akeman Street, by the modern A41, by the Grand Union Canal and by rail lines to Euston Station, Tring is now largely a...

, England, being the same white cougar that London Zoo bought from the animal dealer Jamrach and which lived at London Zoo from May 1848 until January 1852. A white cougar was reported several times in 2001 at Red Rock Canyon National Conservation Area

Red Rock Canyon National Conservation Area

Red Rock Canyon National Conservation Area in Nevada is an area managed by the Bureau of Land Management as part of its National Landscape Conservation System, and protected as a National Conservation Area. It is located about west of Las Vegas, and easily seen from the Las Vegas Strip...

and was identified from photographs and reports as an albino cougar. There is also a calico (white speckling) specimen currently on display as of July 2009 in La Bourbansais Zoo, France.