Spanish wildlife photographer Ángel Hidalgo has spent years tracking some of the world’s most elusive animals. Iberian lynxes — mysterious, quick, and notoriously hard to spot — are his specialty.
But earlier this year, one of his trail cameras captured something so unreal, he questioned whether he could trust his own eyes.
A lynx… completely white.
The footage was brief and blurry, offering only a glimpse. Hidalgo couldn’t be sure if he’d actually seen what he thought he saw — but he couldn’t shake the image. For months, he returned to the same area, determined to confirm the ghostly sighting.
Last week, his persistence paid off.
“One morning, after a night of rain, I was walking as I had done so many times before when suddenly, in the distance, I saw a white shape that seemed to radiate its own light,” Hidalgo shared on Instagram.
There, standing silently in the mist, was the lynx — its winter coat pure white, its eyes glowing gold.
“Seeing a white Iberian lynx for the first time… I was paralyzed. I couldn’t believe what I was witnessing,” he wrote.
Hidalgo watched as the lynx calmly blinked back at him, almost as if acknowledging his presence. He managed to film and photograph the moment — making this the first recorded sighting of a leucistic Iberian lynx in history. Unlike albinism, leucism causes only a partial loss of pigmentation, giving the lynx its haunting, snow-colored appearance.
For the animal’s safety, Hidalgo is keeping its location a closely guarded secret.
Iberian lynxes, native to the Iberian Peninsula, nearly vanished 20 years ago when their population dipped below 100. Thanks to extensive conservation efforts, their numbers have been rebounding — making this rare white individual even more extraordinary.
“Encountering this feline was unforgettable,” Hidalgo wrote. “It made me reflect on the importance of nature and conservation.”
His photos have since mesmerized people around the world, sparking comparisons to mythical beings or forest spirits.
“Looks absolutely mythical,” one commenter said.
“A divine omen,” another wrote.
Hidalgo knows he may never cross paths with the white lynx again — but he’ll always remember the moment he met what he now calls “the ghost of the Mediterranean forest.”
