Yellowstone National Park Officials said Friday that a rare white bison, sacred to Native Americans, has not been seen since its June 4 birth.
The birth of the white buffalo, which fulfilled a Lakota prophecy that foreshadowed better times, was the first recorded in Yellowstone’s history and is a landmark event for the buffalo’s recovery, park officials said in confirming the birth for the first time.
VERY RARE WHITE BUFFALO CALF BORN IN YELLOWSTONE, MONTANA, “SACRED” NAME REVEALED
This is an extraordinarily rare phenomenon: A white buffaloalso known as bison, are born in the wild once in 1 million, or even less frequently, the park said.
The rare calf has been named Wakan Gli, which means “Sacred Return” in Lakota. (AP Photo/Sam Wilson; Erin Braaten: photograph by Dancing Aspens)
It is not known whether the calf – named Wakan Gli, which means “sacred return” in Lakota – is still alive.
The park’s statement noted that each spring, about one in five calves die shortly after birth due to natural disasters, but officials declined to directly answer questions asking whether they thought they were dead.
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 more accessible areas, as well as in its backcountry, have not seen the animal, park spokesman Morgan Warthin said.
Miss Shoshnone-Bannock Queen Develynn Hall takes the stage during a white buffalo calf naming ceremony at campaign headquarters Buffalo Field in West Yellowstone, Mont., Wednesday. (AP Photo/Sam Wilson)
Native American leaders held a ceremony this week to honor the animal’s sacred birth and name it after itself. Members of the Lakota tribe warn that the prophecy linked to the birth of the white bison is also a signal that more must be done to protect the Earth and its animals.
Suspicions about the calf’s fate grew as weeks 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, 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 buffalo and which organized this week’s ceremony, said he believes the calf is alive somewhere in the park, away from the roads and walkways where most visitors stick. He said a grizzly seen by Yellowstone visitors earlier this month with five cubs, an unusually large brood, has also not been seen since.
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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 different today. We need to make changes for the future,” he said.
