The white Iberian lynx of Jaén seemed like a feat of nature. I was actually just stressed.

In recent days, a photograph has flooded social networks and headlines. In it you can see an Iberian lynx with white fur that a priori marked a historical moment: the first case of albinism in the Iberian lynx species and precisely in Jaén and that pointed to a genetic anomaly that reduced the pigmentation of the coat without affecting the color of the eyes. But the reality has been very different (and a little disappointing).

The importance. A priori, this photograph taken by Ángel Hidalgo marked something historic and could have changed the perception that biologists had of the species. But in the end it was not like that, as specialists have been able to see of the Life Lynx Connect Project: He’s just stressed and got gray hair (the same thing that happens among humans).

The context. Ángel Hidalgo, 29, has been using cameras for years phototrapping to document the fauna of the southern peninsula. “When that white figure appeared on the screen, I knew I was looking at something unique. I call it the white ghost of the Mediterranean forest,” he reported on his social networks. His image, accompanied by hashtags such as #linceblanco, went viral in a few hours on social networks.

At first, several media outlets pointed to a case of leucism, well documented phenomenon in birds and mammals, but never scientifically confirmed in Iberian lynxes. However, the inspectors and biologists of the Iberian Lynx Recovery Plan quickly came out to clarify the misunderstanding.

“The animal exists, the photograph is authentic, but it is not leucism,” explained Javier Salcedo, Andalusian coordinator of the Plan. “This is a temporary alteration in pigmentation that may be related to high levels of stress or an episode of physiological weakness. It is completely reversible and does not pose a risk to the health of the specimen.”

When stress dulls the color. The color of mammalian fur depends on the amount and type of melanin synthesized by cells called melanocytes, as occurs in humans. A melanin that is highly controlled by different hormonal pathways that are sensitive to many external factors such as cortisol that can partially block the activity of melanocytes.

The problem in this case is that cortisol is known as the stress hormone, and therefore greater stress reduces the activity of these melanocytes.

This phenomenon has been described in a wideo range of animals, from laboratory mice to arctic foxes and primates, in published studies in Nature, Pigment Cell & Melanoma Research either Scientific Reports. Even humans experience it: the well-known “grayness due to stress” responds to the same mechanism.

In the case of the Iberian lynx, an animal especially sensitive to disturbances in its environment, a prolonged period of tension—due to territorial competition, scarcity of prey or human noise near its breeding areas—is enough to activate these processes.

Lessons from a biological mirage. The media commotion also reflects a contemporary phenomenon: how social networks can transform a simple image into scientific news. In this case, misinformation about leucism and albinism spread faster than technical clarifications from experts on X or Instagram.

In this way, we are reminded that in conservation science, physiological details matter as much as big numbers. A single lynx that changes its color due to stress can reveal accumulated tensions in an entire ecosystem, but not a very rare mutation in its genetics that causes that curious coat.

Cover | Angel Hidalgo

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