‘Beautiful’ all-white animal gallops through two towns in rare sighting, photos show
Some Tennessee residents were in for a surprise when they saw an all-white deer trotting through their town.
Several people in Johnson City and Jonesborough spotted the colorless deer running in the area, WJHL reported, including a man who posted his sighting to Facebook on Oct. 19.
The buck galloped through the streets and by homes, as seen in the man’s photos posted to Facebook.
The animal left many in the area with questions: What type of deer was it? And where did it come from?
The deer seems to be either a fallow or sika deer, Tennessee Wildlife Resources Agency spokesperson Matthew Cameron told McClatchy News in an email. It also may be albino, he said.
Albino white-tailed deer are a protected species in Tennessee, Cameron said, but the loose buck wouldn’t have the same restrictions because it is exotic.
Fallow deer are native to Southwest Asia but have established themselves throughout Europe over the past thousand years, according to the Mammal Society. Sika deer originate from east Asia, and they have become more common in England through releases into the wild, the organization said on its website.
The Tennessee agency gets a handful of calls every year about “escaped exotic deer,” Cameron said, which he noted are typically fallow deer. But seeing a possibly albino nonnative deer is rare, he said.
Loose exotic deer are usually the result of the animal escaping from a hunting preserve or a petting zoo, but in the case of the all-white buck, that doesn’t seem to be the case, Cameron said. There is not a hunting preserve with permits in the area that the deer was seen, he said, and the agency doesn’t know who owns it.
Finding out who owns the deer may prove to be difficult. Tennessee Department of Agriculture investigators would need to trace if the buck was a “direct purchase” into the state or if it was bought at an “exotic auction,” Cameron said.
If the deer was a direct import into Tennessee, the owner would have a permit from the agriculture department, Cameron said, as well as a health certificate. But if the buck came from an auction, the owner may “be very difficult” to track, he said.
There isn’t a “direct threat” to local wildlife, Cameron said, because the exotic animal can’t crossbreed with native deer. What could be problematic is if the buck causes damage to property, he said. In that case, the property owner has the right to euthanize the animal, per the Tennessee Department of Agriculture, Cameron said.
The agency doesn’t have plans to relocate or capture the all-white buck, Cameron said, so more people may see the deer make an appearance in their area.
“It’s a beautiful animal, so enjoy the moment ... and if known, contact its owner to come get it,” Cameron said.
Johnson City is about 105 miles northeast of Knoxville. Jonesborough is about eight miles west of Johnson City.
