Snowflake in the Alps

This past Sunday, at around 10,000 feet above the Les Laures valley in the northern Italian Alps, rangers were carefully snapping pictures of a snowflake. This wasn't just any snowflake clinging to the rocks on the mountainside, it was "Snowflake" and his mother.

Snowflake is the first ever documented albino capra ibex. The capra ibex or alpine ibex is the species that inhabites the european alps and is similar to it's relatives the spanish ibex and the middle eastern nubian ibex. The capra ibex was almost extinct by the beginning of the 19th century due to overhunting and would be extinct if not for the efforts of a small group of foresters who protected the remaining animals by 1816. Victor Emmanuel II of Italy placed the animals under his personal custody in 1854 and since then , with extensive reintroduction programs, the population in the wild has grown to an estimated 30,000 ibex.

"This is the only one ever documented, the only one ever seen," said Christian Chioso, regional wildlife official.

Hikers in the region had been reporting the sightings of a white animal so rangers have been on the lookout for an opportunity to document the rumors. Snowflake was finally spotted near the boundaries of the Big Paradise National Park and photographed with his mother. Chioso said that about 4,000 ibex call the park that was established to protect them, home.

It is estimated that Snowflake is about one year old and he has already beaten the long odds that his rare and unusual coat have given him. It would be even better if the early and ongoing efforts to save this species allow him to continue to grow old naturally in the wild he was born to.