<body><div><p><img src="https://img.particlenews.com/image.php?type=thumbnail_580x000&amp;url=3cQ9SL_0mhqdDiU00" style="display:none" alt="https://img.particlenews.com/image.php?url=3cQ9SL_0mhqdDiU00" width="1730" height="2048" ></p><div style="position:relative;width:100%; height:0; padding-bottom: 56.25%;"><iframe allowfullscreen="true" frameborder="0" sandbox="allow-scripts allow-same-origin allow-popups allow-popups-to-escape-sandbox" scrolling="no" src="https://uw-media.usatoday.com/embed/video/11818313002?placement=newsbreak" style="width:100%; height:100%;top:0; left:0; position:absolute"></iframe></div><p> Officials at a Wyoming state park thought the bison birthing season was finished, until a rare surprise showed up that’s drawing flocks of visitors to the area. </p><p> Earlier this month, staffers at <a href="https://stateparks.com/bear_river_state_park_in_wyoming.html" rel="nofollow"> Bear River State Park </a> in Evanston found a “little white ball of fluff” among the four reddish-brown colored bison calves −&nbsp;the first white calf born in the park’s 32-year history, according to a statement. </p><nbtemplate data-id="AdPlaceholder" data-content="JTdCJTdE"></nbtemplate><p> Wyoming Hope, the park’s 3-year-old&nbsp;white heifer, had given birth on May 16 to a white calf − an extremely uncommon phenomenon, according to Bear River officials. Because the mother is white, “it isn’t unusual that the calf is white too,” the park added. </p><p><a href="https://www.nps.gov/articles/bison-bellows-12-24-15.htm" rel="nofollow"> The National Park Service </a> said white bison are considered sacred to many Native American tribes, including the <a href="https://standingrock.org/" rel="nofollow"> Sioux </a> , <a href="https://www.cherokee.org/" rel="nofollow"> Cherokee </a> , Navaho, Lakota, and Dakota. Blair Gopher, a member of the <a href="https://tribalnations.mt.gov/Directory/BlackfeetNation" rel="nofollow"> Blackfeet </a> and <a href="https://millelacsband.com/" rel="nofollow"> Ojibwe </a> tribes <a href="https://www.greatfallstribune.com/story/news/2020/09/07/tribal-members-montana-celebrate-rare-white-buffalo-calf-spiritual-significance/5685919002/" rel="nofollow"> told the Great Falls Tribune, part of USA TODAY Network </a> , that white buffalo is symbolic of&nbsp;a message from the Creator, or Great Spirit. </p><p></p><iframe height="684" src="https://www.facebook.com/plugins/post.php?href=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.facebook.com%2Fphoto.php%3Ffbid%3D625507126280063%26set%3Da.554569233373853%26type%3D3&amp;show_text=false&amp;width=500" width="100%"></iframe><nbtemplate data-id="AdPlaceholder" data-content="JTdCJTdE"></nbtemplate><p> "Since people have started breeding bison, in the last 20 years or so, more white calves have been born. The whiteness is a recessive gene, but it's important to know that some of them don't retain their whiteness as adults," Craig Knowles,&nbsp;a wildlife biologist who's worked with buffaloes for over two decades, told the outlet. </p><p> Knowles added that white buffalo can be lucrative for private ranchers, as some people will pay large sums to selectively breed a white bull and&nbsp;white cow. </p><p></p><iframe height="497" src="https://www.facebook.com/plugins/post.php?href=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.facebook.com%2FBearRiverStatePark%2Fposts%2Fpfbid0YVNYyiRaF4UJYuwRJDdVYX1msMiFwgaBNtyVaWkqycsDu9x6Yu6k513JHy16VTHcl&amp;show_text=false&amp;width=500" width="100%"></iframe><nbtemplate data-id="AdPlaceholder" data-content="JTdCJTdE"></nbtemplate><h2 class="presto-h2"> What causes white fur in these animals? </h2><p> White fur in bison can be caused by albinism (the absence of any pigmentation or coloration resulting from a melanin deficiency), leucism (an abnormal condition that produces white fur with blue eyes, instead of pink seen in albinos), or more commonly, a genetic makeup born from bison-cattle crossbreeding that makes white fur more common. </p><h2 class="presto-h2"> How rare are white bison? </h2><p> The National Bison Association has estimated white bison births occur at a frequency as rare as <a href="https://kutv.com/news/local/1-in-10-million-rare-white-bison-born-at-bear-river-state-park" rel="nofollow"> 1 in 10 million </a> , though they have become more frequent in recent years, the Great Falls Tribune reported. </p><p> National Bison Association executive director Jim Matheson said an exact statistic is hard to pin down, <a href="https://nativenewsonline.net/currents/white-buffalo-born-to-the-turtle-mountain-band-of-chippewa-tribe" rel="nofollow"> Native News Online reported. </a></p><p> “The bottom line is: we just don’t know,” Matheson told the outlet. “Those records were never kept, so it’s kind of hard to put a number on it.” </p><nbtemplate data-id="AdPlaceholder" data-content="JTdCJTdE"></nbtemplate><p> Almost all bison today show at least trace amounts of cow genetics because of&nbsp;purposeful or accidental cross breeding when bison populations plummeted in the 1800s. However, “a white bison birth is still fairly rare,” Tyfani Sager, the park’s superintendent, told <a href="https://cowboystatedaily.com/2023/05/17/1-in-10-million-rare-white-bison-born-at-wyomings-bear-lake-state-park/" rel="nofollow"> Cowboy State Daily. </a></p><p> In 1994, what was believed to be first white calf since 1933 was born on a farm in Janesville, Wisconsin, according to the National Park Service. </p><p> In this instance, the 30-pound calf’s distinct coloring is likely the result of <a href="https://breeds.okstate.edu/cattle/charolais-cattle.html" rel="nofollow" target="_blank"> Charolais cattle </a> and bison crossbreeding. </p><p><em> This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: <a href="https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2023/06/01/white-bison-calf-wyoming/70273345007/" rel="nofollow"> Rare white bison calf born in Wyoming state park draws flocks of visitors </a></em></p></div></body>

Mountain View, CA

Wyoming Hope gave birth to a rare white calf earlier this month, Wyoming state park officials announced.