A rare white buffalo calf, reportedly born in Yellowstone National Park's Lamar Valley. Photo / AP
A rare white buffalo calf, reportedly born in Yellowstone National Park's Lamar Valley. Photo / AP
Yellowstone National Park officials say a rare white buffalo sacred to Native Americans has not been seen since its birth on June 4.
The birth of the white buffalo, which fulfilled a Lakota prophecy that portends better times, was the first recorded in Yellowstone history and is a landmark event for the recovery of buffalo, said park officials in confirming the creature’s arrival for the first time.
It is a rare occurrence: A white buffalo, also known as bison, is born in the wild once in every 1 million births, or even less frequently, the park said.
Whether the calf – named Wakan Gli, which means “Return Sacred” in Lakota – is still alive is unknown.
Miss Shoshnone-Bannock Queen Develynn Hall at a naming ceremony this week for a white buffalo calf born in Yellowstone National Park. Photo / AP
The park’s statement mentioned that each northern hemisphere spring, about one in five calves die shortly after birth due to natural hazards but officials declined to directly respond to questions about whether they believed it has died.
They confirmed the birth of the white buffalo after receiving photos and reports from multiple park visitors, professional wildlife watchers, commercial guides and researchers. But since June 4, park staffers have not been able to find it and officials are not aware of any other confirmed sightings in the park, one of the last sanctuaries for free-roaming American bison.
Rangers that regularly work in the more accessible areas of the park, as well as its backcountry, have not seen the animal, park spokeswoman Morgan Warthin said.
Native American leaders this week held a ceremony to honour the sacred birth of the animal and give the name. Lakota members caution the prophecy tied to the birth of the white buffalo is also a signal more must be done to protect the earth and its animals.
Suspicion about the calf’s fate has grown as weeks have passed without another sighting since its birth in the Lamar Valley, a prime spot for wildlife viewing in Yellowstone. Young buffalo can fall victim to predators, river currents, illness and other hazards.
The birth of the white calf fulfills a Lakota prophecy that portends better times, according to members of the American Indian tribe who cautioned that it’s also a warning more must be done to protect the earth and its animals. Photo / AP
Mike Mease, a co-founder of the Buffalo Field Campaign, a conservation group that works with tribes to protect and honour wild buffalo and hosted this week’s ceremony, said he thinks the calf is alive somewhere in the park, away from the roads and walkways most visitors stick to. He said a grizzly bear seen by Yellowstone visitors this month with five cubs, an unusually large brood, has not been seen since either.
But the most important thing about the white buffalo is that a prophecy, which is a warning and a blessing, has been fulfilled, Mease said.
“Whether it’s dead or alive, the message has been relayed from the heavens and times are different now. We have to make changes for the future,” he said.
