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12/04/2006
Rare white buffalo born at local zoo
By Josh Krysak , Herald-Standard
A new white baby bull calf stands in a pen with other buffalo at the Woodlands Zoo in Farmington. (Ed Cope/Herald-Standard)
Sonny and Jill Herring, owners of Woodlands Zoo in Farmington, know their wide array of animals draw patrons to their zoo but the couple never had considered "spirituality" as a tourist draw.
But now, thanks to one very unique birth, the Herrings can boast that, too.
On Nov. 12, a perfectly normal brown buffalo at the zoo gave birth to a white baby bull calf - an occurrence that zoo owner Jill Herring said is about 1 in 10 million.
The Herrings said they received an immediate response to the birth from American Indians across the region and have been reeling ever since.
According to American Indian legend of the White Buffalo Woman, the prophetess was sent to her people by the Creator to teach them how to communicate with the deity through the prayer pipe.
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Now, the remarkable birth has thrust the zoo into a new limelight, with American Indians flocking to the park to view the sacred animal and interpret the meaning of the calf's birth.
"We have a tribe that is coming for a dedication and naming ceremony," Jill Herring said with a sheepish smile. "They have given us three names to choose from, so we are thinking about it."
Lenape Indians, indigenous to the Fayette County area, from the Standing Stone Village, have offered the three names to the zoo for the sacred animal.
The choices include Kenahkihinen, which means, "watch over us, Luwan Alankw, which means, "winter star" and Wulileu, which means, "good news."
"We talked to them about it and if we chose the first one we can call him Kenny and if we chose the third we can call him Willy, but we are still deciding," Jill Herring said.
Herring said both parents had to carry a white gene to be able to produce the rare calf.
The birth also was unique, according to the Herrings, because buffalo are rarely born in the fall. Most calves are born in the spring.
Sonny Herring said he went out to do his morning feed at the zoo and saw something white in the buffalo pen.
At first the longtime animal handler thought a goat had gotten out, something not uncommon at the zoo, but on closer inspection, discovered the buffalo baby.
"It was a surprise," Sonny Herring said.
In the past, the Herrings said they have pulled the buffalo babies from the mother and bottle-fed them, but decided to allow the animals to raise the rare baby, something that the American Indians also encouraged the zoo owners to do.
Wynne Brown the Cherokee Indian Tribe stopped at the zoo Thursday afternoon after learning of the calf's birth.
"The prophecy is that when the White Buffalo Woman came to our ancestors, she performed a ceremony and taught them how to use the sacred pipe for the people to remember who they are," Brown said. "This birth is important because it means that her spirit is now available to us to communicate so that her teachings can be disseminated."
Brown, an alternative medicine physician who moved to Fayette County nearly three decades ago from North Carolina, greeted the new bull with what she called a "traditional way to move into communication with soul and spirit" a ritual that had the woman turning in all directions with her eyes closed as if in a trance.
She said each movement is a salute to the four directions, east, west, north and south as well as "Father Sky" and "Mother Earth."
While Brown said the casual observer might call her actions "American Indian spirituality" but she said it is simply knowing her place in the world.
"It is a way of life and understanding the connectedness of all things," Brown said. 'This white buffalo means that a time of understanding that connectedness is here for all to receive."
The zoo is open daily from 10 a.m. to dusk.
