A Rare White Puma Was Caught on Camera in Brazil — It Had Leucism
Quick Answer: In 2013, camera traps in Brazil's Serra dos Órgãos National Park photographed a young male puma with a strikingly pale, leucistic coat. Researchers later identified the animal as the first recorded case of leucism in a wild puma. The photographs were taken in the Atlantic Forest and the animal was not recorded again during monitoring through 2016.
A puma moving through Brazil's Atlantic Forest would normally be expected to have the species' familiar tawny or grayish-brown coat. But in 2013, camera traps in Serra dos Órgãos National Park captured something far more unusual: a young male puma whose fur was strikingly pale.
The photographs eventually became known online as images of a “white cougar.” But the scientific story behind them is more specific.
Researchers identified the animal as a leucistic puma — an exceptionally unusual pigmentation condition — and documented the first recorded case of leucism in a wild puma.
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| An editorial illustration of a leucistic puma moving through the Atlantic Forest in Brazil. A photorealistic editorial illustration depicting a rare pale leucistic puma walking through dense Atlantic Forest vegetation in Brazil, with a wildlife camera trap visible on a nearby tree. (Cover image: AI-generated wildlife illustration created for editorial and educational purposes.) |
- Species: Puma (Puma concolor)
- Sex: Young male
- Location: Serra dos Órgãos National Park, Brazil
- Habitat: Atlantic Forest
- First recorded: 2013
- Condition: Leucism
The White Puma Was Captured by Camera Traps
The unusual animal was discovered during a long-term mammal-monitoring project in Serra dos Órgãos National Park in southeastern Brazil.
Researchers used camera traps to monitor medium- and large-sized mammals in the park. During 2013, the project involved 48 cameras positioned at 24 sampling stations.
Among the puma records was a young male whose fur appeared grayish white and lacked some of the typical darker coloration normally visible around parts of a puma's body.
The same individual was photographed at two camera-trap stations approximately 4.5 kilometers apart.
Four Camera-Trap Records Documented the Unusual Animal
The scientific report describes four records of the leucistic puma in 2013.
- July 5, 2013
- July 21, 2013
- August 13, 2013
- September 7, 2013
The researchers considered these records to represent the same animal because of the proximity of the camera stations and the rarity of the condition.
The cameras showed the puma moving between the two locations through dense forest.
The four documented photographs were taken months apart at two camera-trap stations, giving researchers multiple records of the same unusual-looking puma rather than a single isolated image.
The Original Photographs
The unusual puma was documented through camera-trap photographs taken in Serra dos Órgãos National Park in Brazil. The original photographs are included in the scientific paper documenting the first recorded case of leucism in a wild puma.
View the original camera-trap photographs and scientific paper
What Made the Puma Look White?
The unusual coloration was identified as leucism.
Leucism is a pigmentation condition in which an animal can have reduced pigmentation in some or much of its fur, producing a very pale or white appearance. The researchers noted that leucism is rare in wild felids.
It is important not to confuse leucism with albinism. In the scientific report, the researchers explained that leucism involves a loss or reduction of pigment in the fur while typically leaving the iris unaffected. Albinism involves a different biological pathway involving melanin production and can affect the eyes and skin as well.
This Was Not a Separate “White Cougar” Species
Puma, cougar and mountain lion are common names for the same species, Puma concolor.
The unusual animal photographed in Brazil was therefore not a different species or a newly discovered type of cougar. It was a puma with an exceptionally rare coat-color variation.
That distinction matters because the phrase “white cougar” can make the photograph sound like evidence of a new animal species. The scientific finding was actually about an unusual pigmentation phenotype within an existing species.
The Animal Was Never Recorded Again
After the 2013 photographs, researchers continued monitoring the area.
According to the scientific report, the same leucistic puma was not recorded during additional camera-trap efforts in 2014, 2015 or 2016, including at the locations where it had previously appeared.
Other normally colored pumas were recorded in the area during the later monitoring period.
Because the individual was never captured for genetic sampling, researchers could not determine the precise genetic mutation responsible for its unusual coloration.
Why the Discovery Was Scientifically Important
The significance of the photographs was not simply that the animal looked unusual.
At the time of the study, the researchers described this as the first recorded case of leucism in a puma from a wild population. The finding provided an unusual starting point for further research into the genetics and possible biological significance of pigmentation variation in wild cats.
The researchers also discussed whether unusual coloration could have implications for wild animals, since coloration can affect visibility and other aspects of survival. However, the available observations of this particular puma were not enough to determine whether its leucistic appearance affected its survival.
A Rare Photograph From Brazil's Atlantic Forest
The white-looking puma was photographed in Serra dos Órgãos National Park, part of Brazil's Atlantic Forest.
The photographs are particularly valuable because camera traps can document animals that are difficult to observe directly in dense forest. In this case, repeated records allowed researchers to establish that the unusual animal was not simply an isolated photographic mistake.
More importantly, the scientific documentation gives the images a very different meaning from the sensational “white cougar” captions that later circulated online.
The Takeaway
The striking white puma photographed in Brazil was real, but the most accurate description is not “the world's first white cougar.” It was a young male puma with leucism, documented by camera traps in the Atlantic Forest in 2013.
The scientific report published in 2018 described it as the first recorded case of leucism in a wild puma. The animal was never documented again during the researchers' later monitoring, leaving the photographs as an unusually rare record of pigmentation variation in one of the Americas' most widespread wild cats.
More From The Pader
Explore more documented stories about unusual and extraordinary animals in The Pader's Animal Stories collection.
Amazing Animal Stories: Remarkable Animals and the Stories Behind Them
Sources and Further Reading
Universidade Federal Rural de Pernambuco — First record of puma with leucism
National Geographic — Extremely rare white cougar highlights a quirk of the species
Exgenus — First-ever White Cougar spotted in Brazil's Atlantic Forest
First Record of Leucism in Puma from Serra dos Órgãos National Park, Brazil — CATnews
Extremely Rare White Cougar Highlights a Quirk of the Species — National Geographic
Parque registra onça-parda com leucismo — ICMBio / ISA Archive
Status: FACT-CHECKED
The underlying event is documented by a scientific report in CATnews: a young male puma with leucistic characteristics was photographed by camera traps in Serra dos Órgãos National Park in 2013. The study described it as the first recorded case of leucism in a wild puma. The viral wording “world's first white cougar” is simplified and should not be used as the scientific description. The photographs are historical, not a recent sighting.
The Pader presents wildlife and science information using credible sources and accessible language. Scientific information may be updated as new research emerges.
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