Elusive white kangaroo a sight for sore eyes on outback Queensland station

The uncommon kangaroo appeared for just enough time to be photographed, before bounding into the scrub. (Supplied: Sarah Kinnon)

In outback Queensland, you can normally tell a tourist from a local by how they react to seeing a kangaroo.  

The iconic native marsupial may draw gasps and exclamations from excited travellers, but for those who live on the land, kangaroos are often just part of the scenery.

However, that wasn't the case on a sunny Wednesday afternoon outside of Longreach this week.

Blink and you'll miss it

"I was just out with my husband, we were dropping some rams back to the paddock, and there was a white kangaroo," said Sarah Kinnon, who lives on Nogo Station where the sighting occurred.

"It blew me away really."

It's the second time in six months that a white kangaroo has been seen on Nogo Station. (Supplied: Sarah Kinnon)

A white kangaroo has been spotted on the property 15 kilometres from Longreach before, six months ago, but Sarah was not going to miss her chance to photograph the elusive marsupial.

"It was all a bit rushed really, we didn't see him for long," Mrs Kinnon said. 

"I just chucked my daughter to my husband, got my camera and that's about all I had time for."

A white kangaroo at Mt Kaputar in New South Wales' central west. (Supplied: April Tibbett)

Albino or leucistic?

When a peculiarly pigmented creature with white fur, feathers or scales is seen in the wild, they are often labelled albino. 

But Queensland Museum Curator of Vertebrates Paul Oliver said that did not appear to be the case here.

"Just looking at the picture, it looks to have black eyes, it's hard to see for sure but that suggests it's not an albino," Dr Oliver said.

"You can have true albino, which you need to look for pink eyes, or sometimes there's another type of mutation called leucism where sometimes they'll have black eyes.

A rare albino kangaroo was spotted at the Big Bend near the River Murray in South Australia in February, 2016. (Supplied: Rosemary Faehrmann)

The Griffith University lecturer said it was quite likely that this was the same white kangaroo that was seen on the property six months ago.

"Especially because it survived to adulthood," Dr Oliver said.

"Usually they don't survive, because obviously they stand out, if they're albino they can't see properly, their melanin's not protecting them.

Leaps and bounds

Nogo Station's white kangaroo has defied the odds already to make it this far, a trend that Mrs Kinnon would love to see continue.

"We just hope it doesn't end up in a shooter's sights, or in front of a car," said Mrs Kinnon.