Rare white buffalo sacred to Native Americans not seen since June 4 birth, officials say
Yellowstone National Park officials said Friday a rare white buffalo sacred to Native Americans has not been seen since its birth on June 4.
Yellowstone National Park officials said Friday 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 birth for the first time.
It is an extraordinarily 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.
The park’s statement mentioned that each 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.
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