DHWalrus on the Artic Building, Third and Cherry, on the edge of Pioneer Square in Seattle, Washington.

If I had been given the option of living in the city, or living in the Himalayas, I would only have needed a second to decide to be a Sherpa for the rest of my life. One of the many wonderful thing's about being with Ringling Bros. circus is that it afforded you the opportunity to go to the most beautiful cities in the United States, and when time permitted, to tour some of the most wonderful Natural History museums, and gaze upon some of the most incredible architecture in the world. I found that when you grew tired of looking at the glass and steel "crystal Cathedrals" that seem to be the norm today in cities, and you found it hard to breath in the stifling crowds of humanity, usually if you looked up, you would get a breath of fresh air, and you could "immerse"(thanks to David Hancocks for showing that feeling in the zoo world) yourself in real architectural genius. When my father said, "they don't make it like they used to," I understand what he meant.

Plight of animals who become outcasts because of wrong markings.

MAIL ON LINE UK
Nov. 20,2006

As everyone knows, it's not easy being different.

And when you are a hippopotamus having a fetching pink hide is definitely not de rigeur.

But it's nothing that a quick wallow in the mud wouldn't solve.

For other animals born different, however, the laws of the jungle can be less forgiving - particularly if nature's quirk has robbed them of their camouflage.

Life for yellow crocodiles, cheetahs with stripes, white lions, albino baboons and leopards without spots can be tough.

And as majestic and charming as they may be to human eyes, standing out from the crowd in the animal kingdom could cost them their lives.

A spokesman for programme makers who charted the lives of the unusual beasts, said: "To be born an outsider is a rare and dramatic event."

"Animals with startlingly different colouring to their species' norm face completely new challenges as they work harder to survive."

"These outsiders are not well camouflaged for the habitat they were born into, which means they are more likely to be spotted by predators or if they are predators themselves it will be more difficult for them to stalk their prey."

"They are exposed and vulnerable."

"In addition to this, they risk being ostracised by the rest of their group for being different."

The programme featured the rare sight of a yellow baby crocodile emerging from its egg alongside its green siblings.

The newborn is immediately accepted by its mother, however, and is carried in her mouth from her nest in the sand to the safety of the river with remarkable delicacy.

Then there is Senga, a baby baboon born with milky white fur. Senga faces a double adversity within the strict hierarchy of her troop as she was born to a low ranking female, making it even more difficult for her to win acceptance.

Kito the lion - whose name means "the jewel" - is the only one of his litter to be born white.

Set against the golden grass of the African Savannah, he does indeed shine like a rare pearl.

But although not rejected by his mother and protected by the rest of the pride as a youngster, his bright fur will not help his hunting prowess later in life.

Such quirks of nature have fascinated mankind for centuries.

Unusually marked beasts appear in many ancient African fables and have been both revered and feared by African tribes.

These unusual beasts were the subject of Africa's Outsiders, a documentary screened on satellite channel Animal Planet on Christmas Day.

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Speaking of "fascinated mankind for centuries," Montezuma kept families of albino humans in his zoo. Although they were "captive" they were looked upon,treated and studied as Gods. Cortez later took them to Spain, after his disservice to the Aztec people, where they were afforded the same courtesy they had known in Tenochtitlan with Montezuma.

Svetik, the pink hippo at the Kaliningrad Zoo--2008

Zoo keepers thought they were going hippo-potty when they came in one morning and found their star animals had turned pink overnight. Four-year-old hippopotamus Svetik has stumped vets in Zoo Park in Kaliningrad, Russia, who believe he has a rare genetic condition.

Keeper Viktoria Tereshchenko said: "They haven't been able to give us a detailed explanation but Svetik is very healthy and fit and growing well."

Visitors have been flocking to the zoo to catch a glimpse of the bright pink hippo.

One onlooker told the Australian Times "He looks very pretty but that colour might not help him much when he gets around to breeding. He doesn't look very manly."

The youngster currently tips the scales at 600 kilograms - but could reach 3.5 tonnes by the time he gets to adulthood in six years.
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I have often pondered that this leucistic condition may be the reason for the fabled " Royal White Elephants." I wonder if it "goes" as well as "comes," which may be why the white elephants historically are not around to long. Apparently Viktoria Tereshchenko was more then a keeper as Svetik was performing in the Russian Circus's program Dzhumandzhi under the direction of Viktoria and Yevgeny Tereshchenko on Dec. 17, 2008.

Pink hippo photograhed in 2005 at Lake Nakuru National Park in the Rift Valley.

Pink Masai Mara hippopotamus

hippopotamus

Images of rare pink hippopotamus captured in Masai Mara, Kenya.

Wading through the muddy waters this rare pink-o-pottamus stands out from the crowd.

British brothers and wildlife photographers Will and Matt Burrard-Lucas captured these images of the brightly coloured hippo in the Masai Mara, Kenya, last week.

Visiting the African country on the hunt to photograph the legendary wildebeest migration the Londoners were in for a treat when rumours of a pink hippo surfaced.

'Our guide had mentioned that he had heard rumours of this rare hippo from a fellow guide, however, he was not told where it lived and he had never come across it before,' explains 26-year-old Will.

'After a rather uneventful morning, we stopped on the banks of the Mara River for a picnic breakfast.

'After a while, to our great surprise, we spotted the pink hippo emerge on to the far bank of the river.

'We dropped everything and reached for our cameras!'

Racing up to a bank on the river, the brothers positioned themselves a few hundred yards from the young hippo, so not to disturb it.

'It was a young one as it is much smaller than the other hippos and always stayed close to its mother,' said Will.

'It was nice to see the other hippos treated it no differently to any other.

'The pink hippo seemed perfectly happy as it bumbled around on the shore and other than its skin, was no different to any other hippo.

'It was out on the shore for 10 minutes or less. After that we spotted his pink head surface above the water every few minutes as he came up for air.

'It was also very shy and after spotting us it hid behind its mother before disappearing into the water.'

Excited by their discovery the brothers returned to the UK this week, eager to find out more about the rare hippo.

Will continued: 'On returning to the UK I have spent a morning researching the condition in order to find out how rare this creature really is and what caused the extraordinary coloration.

'I found just a handful of recorded instances of pink hippos in Uganda but never in the Mara.

'It turns out the hippo is "leucistic" [a condition characterised by reduced pigmentation in animals and humans], and not an albino since it does have some pigmented spots and dark eyes.

'Usually leucistic and albino animals do not survive in the wild as they are very visible to predators and they get serious sunburn.

'However, once hippos are large enough they are rarely attacked by predators, and uniquely, their sweat acts as a sunscreen which means a pink hippo can survive perfectly well in the wild!'

For Will though, the encounter proved how wildlife can continue to surprise and amaze.

Courtesy of Steve Robinson