Well, that’s probably not a good sign.
Yellowstone National Park’s mysterious white bison calf, fulfilling a Native American prophecy of future prosperity, has gone missing.
The National Park Service announced Friday that Wakan Guri, whose name means “return to the sacred” in Lakota, has not been seen since his June 4 birth.
“To date, park staff have not been able to locate the calf,” officials said. He said in a statement.
Little Prossie was first spotted earlier this month grazing alongside her mother in a lush Lamar Valley field.
Park officials declined to comment on where the rare white cow may have gone since her first and only sighting, but said in a statement that about one in five calves die shortly after birth each spring due to natural disasters.
Considering that authorities have not seen whether Waka Guri is alive or dead, we can safely assume that the little one is alive.
The NPS statement came just days after hundreds of people attended a Lakota bison naming ceremony to bestow the name Wakan Guri on an absent recipient.
Wednesday’s event featured drumming, dancing and inspiring speeches to commemorate the fulfillment of a divine prophecy and a message of greater care for the planet.
“It’s up to each and every one of you to make this happen for our children’s future. We have to come together and bring back the good energy,” Chief Albor Looking Horse told the crowd.
This bison is extremely rare, with only one in every million born in the wild, and this is the first birth ever recorded in Yellowstone National Park.
National Park Service officials have yet to see the mysterious creature for themselves, but a plethora of photos taken by lucky hikers and tour groups confirm that the calf was born that day, the service said.
Officials are optimistic about Huaca Guri’s fate, but Mike Meese, co-founder of the Buffalo Field Campaign, a conservation group that works with tribes to protect wild buffalo, suspects the calf is hiding out away from roads and trails where most tourists go.
But what’s most important about the white buffalo, Meese says, is that it fulfills a prophecy that’s both a warning and a blessing. He told the Associated Press.
“Dead or alive, the message comes from above and times are different now. We have to make a change for the future,” he said.
