White buffalo
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The white buffalo is a rarely-occurring condition of juvenile American Bison where an animal is born with a white fur coat. This is not an albino condition, as the animal's coat will transition from white to brown as the animal reaches adulthood. Also, the eyes of the animal are not tinted red as someone familiar with albinos would expect. White buffalo are considered to be sacred signs among Native Americans. Whenever one appears, it is descended upon by native peoples of North America for prayer and other religious ceremonies. In other circles, the white buffalo still arouses curiosity.
The most recently-born white buffalo is a male named Spirit of Peace, born on April 17 2005 on the Blatz Bison Ranch in Fort St. John, British Columbia. Unfortunately, Spirit of Peace died on June 1 of the same year, probably as a result of his premature birth. There is also a breeding program at the Spirit Mountain Ranch in Flagstaff, Arizona that breeds adult white buffalo who are born dark-furred. On May 22 2004 a calf was born completely white.
Prior to that was a female named Miracle, who lived at the family farm of Dave, Valerie, and Corey Heider near Janesville, Wisconsin. The calf was born on August 20, 1994. Her fur fully transitioned to brown as she matured, and she gave birth to four calves of her own before dying of natural causes on September 19, 2004.
Prior to Miracle, the last-known white buffalo calf was born in 1933.
External links
- Miracle, the Sacred White Buffalo (http://www.homestead.com/WhiteBuffaloMiracle/)
http://www.pdhomes.net/html/creations/Pages/8/White_Buffalo_Born.html This link shows that a white bison calf was born on May 22nd, 2004 outside of Flagstaff. http://calgary.cbc.ca/regional/servlet/View?filename=ca_buffalo20050524 This shows one born in Fort Saint John, British Columbia on 17 April 2005.