Wildlife photographer Erin Braaten of Dancing Aspens Photo was in the right place at the right time earlier this week at Yellowstone National Park. Though she missed the birth by just a couple of minutes, Braaten still captured the photos of a lifetime—a newborn white bison calf, a rare sight indeed.
In an interview with Cowboy State Daily, Braaten said when she spotted the calf, she initially thought it was something else entirely. “We were just driving along, and there were some bison crossing the road,” she said. “I was looking back, and I saw what I thought maybe was a coyote.”
Upon closer inspection, she realized it was a bison calf . . . a white bison calf. Even more incredible, it clearly had just been born.
“The afterbirth, the placenta was still there, and the calf was just standing up,” Braaten told Cowboy State Daily.
See Braaten’s photos of a newborn white bison calf born in Yellowstone here:
For some, seeing the white version of an animal that’s not typically white is a good omen. As for why the calf is white, it’s possible it has a genetic mutation called leucism, which can cause white coloration on the skin or fur.