'Sacred' buffalo adopts endangered Pere David's deer

GENTRY -- It can be a difficult task to get a cow to accept a calf not her own, but the Wild Wilderness Safari in Gentry has an even more unusual adoption which occurred without human intervention: a Pere David's deer fawn has been adopted by a bison herd and nurses alongside the bison calves.

The fawn, approximately 10 days old, could be seen May 21 among the white bison herd with the other calves instead of with the other deer and its mother. After watching for a short time, bystanders saw the fawn nurse alongside a bison calf from a large white buffalo cow. A series of photos taken over the afternoon shows that more than more than one bison cow is allowing the fawn to nurse.

"The sacred white buffalo has adopted an endangered Pere David's deer fawn," said Leon Wilmoth, manager and caretaker at the Safari. "I've never seen anything like it."

Wilmoth has been around both species for a long time at the Safari. Usually, the bison won't let another animal near their calves, he said.

Jim Matheson, assistant director of the National Bison Association, headquartered in Westminster, Colo., said he's never heard of it either.

"Occasionally," Matheson said, "a bison calf is orphaned or twins will be born and a cow won't accept both. Then, it is sometimes possible to get another cow to accept the orphaned calf."

According to the Animal Diversity Website maintained by the University of Michigan, Pere David's deer, also known as milu, is a species native to the lowlands of China that is extinct in the wild. The only deer remaining are those kept and preserved in animal refuges and parks similar to the Wild Wilderness Safari.

The Safari has good numbers of both species and calves and fawns are abundant this time of year, but this is the first time a sacred bison cow has accepted a deer fawn as her own. And both bison cow and deer fawn seem happy about the arrangement.

General News on 06/18/2014