Yellowstone officials: Rare white bison, sacred to Native Americans, has not been seen since its June 4 birth

Yellowstone National Park officials said Friday rare white buffalo sacred to Native Americans has not been seen since his birth on June 4.

The birth of the white bison, who fulfilled a Lakota prophecy The birth, which portends better times, was the first recorded in Yellowstone’s history and marks a milestone for the buffalo’s recovery, park officials said in confirming the birth for the first time.

It is an extremely rare phenomenon: a white buffalo, also known as a bison, is born in the wild once in a million births, or even less frequently, the park said.

It is not known whether the calf – named Wakan Gli, which means “sacred return” in Lakota – is still alive.

The park’s statement said that each spring, about one in five calves die shortly after birth due to natural disasters, but officials declined to answer questions directly about whether they believed any had died.

The birth of the white bison was confirmed after receiving photos and reports from several park visitors, professional wildlife observers, commercial guides and researchers. But since June 4, park staff have been unable to find him and officials are unaware of any other confirmed sightings in the park, one of the last sanctuaries for free-ranging American bison.

Rangers who regularly work in the park’s most accessible areas, as well as its backcountry, have not seen the animal, said park spokesperson Morgan Warthin.

Native American leaders earlier this week held a ceremony to honor the sacred birth of the animal and give it a name. Lakota tribesmen warn that the prophecy of the birth of the white buffalo is also a signal that more must be done to protect the Earth and its animals.

Suspicions about the calf’s fate are growing as weeks have passed without another bison sighting since his birth in the Lamar Valley, a prime wildlife viewing spot in Yellowstone. Young bison can be prey to predators, river currents, disease and other dangers.

Mike Mease, co-founder of the Buffalo Field Campaign, a conservation group that works with tribes to protect and honor wild bison and which organized this week’s ceremony, said he believed the cub was alive somewhere in the park, far from the roads and trails most visitors use. He said a grizzly bear spotted by Yellowstone visitors earlier this month with five cubs, an unusually large brood, has not been seen since.

But the most important thing about the white buffalo is that a prophecy, which is both a warning and a blessing, has been fulfilled, Mease said.

“Whether dead or alive, the message has been relayed from the heavens and times are now different. We must make changes for the future,” he said.