Echidna with typical coloring

Rare albino echidna sighting sparks warning from officials, ‘Leave wildlife alone’

A “very rare” albino echidna sighting in New South Wales, Australia, sparked a warning from wildlife officials for locals to keep their distance from the spiny sightseer.

The local official who spotted the unusual mammal affectionately named it Raffie, after Ferrero’s Raffaello coconut truffles. A fantastic name, as the little guy does look a bit like a ball of coconut flakes.

“If you see Raffie out, please feel free to take a couple of snaps but do not approach, touch, or try and contain him,” council officials wrote in a Facebook post. “It is important to leave wildlife alone, as you could risk them losing their scent trail or leaving young unattended in the burrow.”

Despite their prickly appearance, echidnas aren’t dangerous in the least. They don’t even have any teeth! Though somewhat similar to porcupines in appearance, echidnas’ spines are much friendlier.

Porcupine quills detach and embed themselves in attackers, becoming not only difficult but extremely painful to remove. Echidna spines, on the other hand, are closer in construction to those of a hedgehog. Rather than quills, they’re actually long, tough hair follicles.

Though there’s evidence to suggest their ancestors were venomous, modern-day echidnas use their spines for communicating during breeding.

Now, they can and do, also use them in defense, but their tactic is decidedly less vicious than a porcupine’s. When threatened, an echidna will roll into a ball, leaving only their spines exposed. If possible, they will also dig themselves to safety using their backward-curving claws.

Seeing Raffie the echidna was an ‘out of this world’ experience

For local resident Geoff Hadley, encountering Raffie was an “out of this world” experience, especially because he initially thought the miniature mammal had suffered a tragic end.

“I thought it had been hit by a car originally because it just wasn’t walking,” he told ABC. “I’ve seen hundreds of echidnas but I’ve never, ever seen a white one — it was just crazy.”

Echidnas are widespread and relatively common in Australia. Because of their elusive nature, however, they’re rarely spotted by humans. To see an albino individual in the wild is downright unheard of.

John Grant with wildlife rescue organization WIRES admitted he’s not even sure how rare echidnas are. In addition to spending a large amount of their time in deep burrows, they’re nocturnal, making them even more difficult to study.

“They’re not common, that’s for sure,” he said. “I think in all the time I’ve been here, which is 10 years, we’ve seen three, maybe four that have come into care.”

Concerned for the echidna’s safety and wellbeing, wildlife officials kept his whereabouts a secret. To their relief, however, locals have been extremely respectful of the meandering monotreme.

“We’re finding that people are more and more responsible around native wildlife,” Grant said. “They know to keep their distance … keep any animals you have contained. It’s best just to leave them alone.”