Whitetail Insider

Deer of a Different Color

By: Christopher S. DePerno, Gabriel Karns and M. Colter Chitwood

Every year, there is a tremendous amount of interest in strangely-colored white-tailed deer. Usually, when one of these oddly-colored deer are spotted, photos begin whizzing all over the Internet and spark discussions ranging from general interest to protection of the “special” deer to removal of the “defective” deer from the population. However, not many people know what causes these odd colorations.

For white-tailed deer, four color combinations are possible. The first is the full brown or normal coloration that we are accustomed to seeing. The remaining color combinations are albinism (white), melanism (black), and piebald (two-toned). Albinism, melanism, and piebald are recessive traits and genetically inherited.

Albino deer lack the natural pigment melanin and have completely white coats, grey hooves, and pink eyes. Albinism is a recessive trait found in mammals, birds, reptiles, and fish. Albino animals lack the gene for normal coloration and do not produce the enzyme (tyrosine) for coloration. It is believed that an abnormality of the pituitary gland causes tyrosine to not be produced. Conversely, melanistic white-tailed deer have excessive levels of melanin and are very dark or completely black. Piebald deer have patches of white hair giving them a mottled appearance, but there can be quite a bit of color variation--from mostly white with some brown to mostly brown with some white. It is believed the piebald coloration is more common than albinism and albinism is more common than melanism. Although research is scarce, it has been estimated that one in 30,000 white-tailed deer are piebald, one in 100,000 are albino, and one in >100,000 are melanistic. Nevertheless, when combined additively, all three conditions are very rare (<1%) in natural populations.

White-tailed deer that have these abnormal colorations may also have physical abnormalities (e.g., short legs, bowed nose, malformed jaws, scoliosis, and malformations of internal organs). However, because these colorations are caused by a recessive genetic trait and not by parasites or diseases, there are no public health implications for the consumption of an albino, melanistic, or piebald deer’s venison.

Many hunters and members of the general public believe that albino, melanistic, and piebald white-tailed deer should be protected. Some hunters believe these animals should be “culled” from the herd because they possess a recessive trait. Although these individuals are uniquely-colored, there is nothing genetically beneficial or detrimental to the population as a whole. Importantly, the presences of albinism, piebaldism, or melanism does not represent animals with inferior genetics, it simply demonstrates that subtle genes exist in white-tailed deer populations for producing variation in hair color. The recessive trait simply means that to be passed to future offspring, both parents must have the same recessive trait. Otherwise, the dominant trait and its associated phenotype (physical appearance) are expressed. In this case, that is the normal brown coloration of white-tailed deer.

Hence, excessive protection or specific targeting of albino, melanistic, or piebald individuals serves no biological benefit.

About the Authors: Christopher S. DePerno, Ph.D., is an Assistant Professor and Wildlife Extension Specialist with the Department of Forestry and Environmental Resources, Fisheries and Wildlife Sciences Program at North Carolina State University. Gabriel Karns M. S. is with the Fisheries and Wildlife Sciences Program, Department of Forestry and Environmental Resources at North Carolina State University and M. Colter Chitwood is an M. S. candidate in the Fisheries and Wildlife Sciences Program, Department of Forestry and Environmental Resources, at North Carolina State University.

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