Which Animals Have Blue Eyes?
Eye colour in wild species tends to be fixed, whereas humans and domesticated animals show multiple eye colours. Dr Juan J. Negro, lead author of a recent hypothesis published in Frontiers in Zoology, takes us through why this might be. 
Eye color variation in domestic goats Did you know that eye coloration only varies in human populations and their domestic animals? Wild animal species, with few exceptions, have just one type of eye coloration, be it light or dark. By the way, when we say eye color, we refer to the iris encircling the pupil, which is always dark and expands and contracts rapidly depending on light conditions.
- In the case of humans, it is common knowledge that the eye color palette is remarkably large.
- What is not known, however, is how and when this variation emerged in the evolutionary history of Homo sapiens,
- And the same can be said for domestic animals, both of feather and fur.
- There are blue-eyed dogs, cats, horses, goats, camels and llamas.
And some of these species also have yellow-eyed variants. 
Blue-eyed Icelandic horse Rafael Ruiz-Fuente Cat breeds in particular show a remarkable variation in eye coloration. In a majority of domestic breeds, however, brown is the default color. As it should be expected for domestic animals under selective breeding, the emergence and fixation of variants in both coat or plumage, as well as eye coloration, started at the early stages of domestication in the Neolithic due to the cherry-picking of rare color mutants. Iris colour in humans and wild animals In wild animals, and also in the ancestors of domestic animals, eye coloration does not tend to vary. The few reported cases of eye color variation in wild species, mostly in birds, correspond to changes associated to maturation with age and some rare instances of sexual dimorphism (as with certain duck species such as the common pochard Aythia ferina ).
- Perhaps blue- and green-eyed individuals were preferred as mates and left more descendants spreading their eye color in the populations.
- Bird species in which the adults have bright yellow or red eyes may have a darker, brownish color, in the juvenile phase.
- This seems to imply that certain color types require some time for the individual to accumulate the necessary pigments that provide the definitive coloration of the adult eye.
Melanins, by the way, are responsible for the color differences in the eye color of humans: dark eye colors contain eumelanin and pheomelanin, green eyes contain mainly pheomelanin, and blue eyes contain practically no melanin. Today it is possible to get blue eyes with a surgical procedure that removes melanins from the iris.
And the acquired color is permanent because the melanin is never replaced. Sexual selection can be discarded as a driving force for eye color variation in domesticated species, and natural selection does not act on them as heavily as in the case of their wild ancestors. But, what is the case for humans? Maybe it is a case of sexual selection, after all.
Perhaps blue- and green-eyed individuals were preferred as mates and left more descendants spreading their eye color in the populations. In wild animals with no variation in eye color, it seems that this trait is adaptive and fixed by natural selection.
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Can a lion have blue eyes?
Ever seen a white tiger? How about a white lion? Like the creamy Spirit Bear, which is really a pale black bear, or the rare white giraffe – sighted a few years ago in Tanzania’s Tarangire National Park – white tigers and lions are not albinos, but unusual genetic anomalies. 
White lions get their coloration from a recessive gene The unique white lion gene is carried by certain of the tawny-colored lions in the region, and white cubs have occurred in numerous prides in the area. The earliest recorded sighting of white lions in the Timbavati region was in 1938.
- However, the oral records of African elders indicate that these unique animals survived in this region for many centuries.
- White lions have a number of features that distinguish them from true albinos: as do white tigers, they typically have blue eyes (regular lions’ eyes are gold), due to a recessive gene that is similar to that which produces blue eyes in humans.
They also have black features on the tip of their noses as well as “eye-lining” and dark patches behind their ears. By contrast, albino lions, which lack pigmentation, have a characteristic pink or red coloration to their features. 
The ‘Spirit Bear,’ or Kermode bear, is a white variation of a black bear. While the white Spirit Bear still thrives in the remote coastal wilderness of British Columbia, the last recorded wild white tiger was shot in 1958, and white lions are essentially gone from the wild.
Most were removed from their native habitats in the 1970s to establish captive breeding and hunting operations. According to the Global White Lion Protection Trust, these operations, as well as zoos, specifically bred white lions because of their rarity and exploited them for financial gain. Along with these removals, lion culling in the Kruger National Park in the 1970s and trophy hunting of male lions in the Timbavati have depleted the gene pool.
The result has been a great decline in the frequency of occurrence of the white lion, and a technical extinction in the wild for the last 12 years. The Global White Lion Protection Trust is seeking to re-establish white lions within their natural distribution range in the way they once occurred naturally. For more on white lions and the Trust, visit the organization’s website,
What wild cat has blue eyes?
Blue Eyed Ocelot. “The ocelot is a wild cat native to the southwestern United States, Mexico, Central, and South America.” –
Which big cat has blue eyes?
Himalayan PersianThe Himalayan Persian, a mix of the Siamese (color pattern) and the Persian (huge and shiny coat) has beautiful blue eyes that stands out amongst its dark and light color pattern. They are affectionate and calm, making them an ideal feline friend for many.
Why were Jackson’s eyes blue?
Peter explains that if a werewolf has blue eyes, it’s because they have taken an innocent life. When Jackson becomes a werewolf in season 2, his eyes are also blue. In this episode, young Peter is shown to have golden eyes (which, as this episode explains, means that he hadn’t killed anyone yet).
Is there a monkey with blue eyes?
About The blue-eyed black lemur is one of the most endangered primates in the world. Native to Madagascar, there may be fewer than 1,000 individuals remaining in the wild. These lemurs rely more on their sense of smell than vision, using a long muzzle, wet nose, and whiskers (called vibrissae ) to track family members, identify threats, and determine which trees have fruit.
- Blue-eyed black lemurs are arboreal and spend most of their day in the trees, foraging and napping.
- Led by the most dominant female of the group, they move through the trees with agility and can leap distances up to 25 feet.
- Lemurs greet one another by grooming each other’s fur using protruding bottom teeth like a comb.
A specialized “toilet claw” on their second toe is used for personal grooming. Other than humans, blue-eyed black lemurs are the only primate to have blue eyes. Blue eyes are rare in the wild as they offer less sun protection than eyes with darker irises.