Re: weißes Büffelkalb - 4 in 2002 - war mir neu, ok! (o.T.)

Geschrieben von mica am 23. Februar 2003 22:39:57:

Als Antwort auf: Re: weißes Büffelkalb - 4 in 2002 geschrieben von Bern am 23. Februar 2003 19:32:01:

>Four white buffalo calves born to same N.D. herd
>September 13, 2002 - Westhope, N.D.
>Bison owners like to joke that they will be the next to find a rare white calf, but they never really believe it will happen. So when Dwaine 'Pedie' Kirk saw something white pop out of the grass while he was checking on his bison cows, it took him a while to realize what it was. Then it happened three more times in the next two weeks.
>The first white calf in the Kirks' Bentinck Bison Ranch herd was born Aug. 17, and the last one came Sept. 2.
>Two of them are snow-white bulls with ice-blue eyes. The heifer is white with dark eyes. The youngest one is a bull calf that has a dark patch on the top of his head and has dark eyes. None is an albino.
>Already, the calves are showing personality. Debbie Kirk said the heifer calf likes to get in with the bulls and kick up her heels, showing off.
>Paul Thomas, executive director of the North Dakota Buffalo Association in Bismarck, never has heard of four white buffalo calves in one herd. He knows of only two or three white buffalo in the country. This is extremely rare.
>The Kirks think they know which bull fathered the white calves, but they plan DNA testing to be sure.
>Two of the four calves have battled pinkeye and other vision problems, possibly because of the lighter pigment in their eyes.
>Pedie Kirk, an oil-field manager, and Debbie Kirk, who works at the nursing home in Westhope, said they got into bison ranching in 1996 as a hobby when the cattle market was in a slump. Today, they have about 125 bison in two separate herds near Westhope.
>Indian tribes on the northern Plains, including the Sioux and Cheyenne, hold the white buffalo sacred. The National Buffalo Association has said that even in the 1800s, when as many as 80 million buffalo roamed the Plains, the odds of having an albino calf were estimated at one in 10 million.



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