Rare white bison born at Central Texas ranch

BURNET, Texas - At Wagon Springs Ranch, much of Carl Chambers’ time is spent corralling Blanco, a blonde bison, and his ladies.

"We noticed, like three years ago, when we were breeding him, that every time a calf was born, it was this really light-colored cream. And we thought, ‘Oh my goodness, that's what he's throwing every time,’" Chambers. "That’s when we were like, ‘Well, let's breed him with this blonde and see what happens.’"

Blonde plus blonde equaled white. And white is once in a blue moon.

"We leaned down and looked into the brush and I said, ‘What is that?’" said Chambers. "I was like, ‘Oh my goodness.’"

The white calf was given the name Unatsi, which means ‘snow’ in Cherokee, one of many Native American tribes that would hold the calf in high esteem.

According to the National Park Service, the birth of a white calf is considered a good omen and "sacred within the American Indian communities, because it brings a sense of hope and is a sign that good times are about to happen."

Chambers said he has some Cherokee roots, and they have reached out to a local tribe.

Blanco also bred with another other blonde bison, the sister of Unatsi’s mom, and the calf was still born blonde.

"So that's when we knew this is still something really rare," said Chambers.

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Just how rare is it? It's hard to tell right now, as statistics are unclear and Unatsi has been keeping her distance so far.

"True albinism is very rare," said Jamie Killian, a Texas Parks & Wildlife Dept. wildlife biologist who works with the Texas State Bison Herd. "Albino is the complete lack of pigmentation…leucism is different. It's a white animal, but there is some pigmentation…and that is more common than an albino is."

Killian said she had never seen a white bison in their herd.

"We have maybe 400,000," said Killian regarding the amount of bison currently in North America. "The vast majority are in private herds. But we do have some public herds. Texas has the only Southern Plains Bison herd, and it’s the Official Texas State Bison Herd."

Chambers said that once Unatsi is a little older, they plan to get bloodwork done, so they can get a better idea of her genetics.