Rare white bison calf not seen in Yellowstone since early June: NPS

A rare white bison calf that Native American communities have celebrated since its birth in Yellowstone National Park has not been seen since June, according to the National Park Service.

The white bison was born June 4 in the Lamar Valley, photographed by visitors and photographers. Photos of the bison were shared online, winning the affection of social media users and Native American tribes who consider the animal sacred.

“To date, park staff have been unable to locate the cub,” the National Park Service said on its website Friday. “To our knowledge, there have been no confirmed sightings by park visitors since June 4.”

According to the park service, the calf is leucistic, not albino. Leucistic animals like the calf have black eyes and hooves with some pigmentation, the park service wrote.

Calling the calf’s birth a “rare natural phenomenon,” the park service said a similar birth occurred in the late 19th century, before bison were nearly extinct. The rate is estimated to be one in a million, or perhaps even lower.

The calf’s birth in June may be due to a “natural genetic inheritance” present in Yellowstone bison. Yellowstone’s wild bison population has been slowly recovering, the park service said.

The bison population typically ranges from 3,000 to 6,000 animals, divided into two subpopulations. The northern herd breeds in the Lamar Valley and surrounding highlands, while the central herd breeds in the Hayden Valley, the park service said.

According to the park service, each spring, about 1 in 5 bison die after birth due to “natural disasters.”

The white bison is sacred to Native American tribes

According to the National Park Service, Native Americans have passed down a story about the white buffalo for generations.

A famine struck the land and prompted the Lakota chief to send out scouts in search of food. The scouts saw a figure and approached it, discovering that it was a woman. One of the scouts, driven by sexual desire, approached the woman, although the second had told him that she was sacred.

A cloud surrounded the man and woman, then turned into a pile of bones, the park service said. When the second man approached the woman, she told him she was wakan, or saint. She told him to return to his people and tell them she had arrived.

When she arrived, she brought the chanupa, a white buffalo pipe, which is “the most sacred object a person can possess,” the park service said. She also taught tribal members the seven sacred ways to pray. She then told the people she would return and bring harmony and spirituality to a world that desperately needed it.

The holy woman circled the earth four times, changing color until she turned into a white buffalo and disappeared. Once she was gone, herds of buffalo came to surround the people.

Today, Native Americans believe that when a white buffalo is born, their prayers are answered and the prophecy is fulfilled.

“To Native Americans, a white buffalo is the most sacred living thing on earth,” the park service wrote on its website. “Some Native Americans say that the birth of a white buffalo is an omen because it occurs in the most unexpected places and often happens among the poorest people.”

See the pictures:Photographer Shares ‘Magical’ Photos of Rare White Bison in Yellowstone

A calf named and welcomed at a ceremony last week

Shortly after the white bison was born in June in Yellowstone National Park, members of the Native American community shared their excitement and also welcomed the animal in a ceremony Wednesday.

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