White deer caught on camera in New York

Wildlife officials in New York said a white deer caught on camera in West Seneca “appears to be a leucistic white-tailed deer.”

The West Seneca Police Department posted photos to Facebook showing what the department theorized to be a “Seneca white deer.”

“They maybe just got confused by our local highway signs for ‘West Seneca’ and took the wrong exit,” the post said.

TJ Pignataro of the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation told WKBW-TV the animal “appears to be a leucistic white-tailed deer.”

“Leucism, where there are white patches, or in some cases all white fur, is a rare condition. True albinism, where the animal completely lacks pigment, even in the eyes, is even more rare than leucism. The deer in the photo is not an albino deer,” Pignataro said.

Some users expressed concerns that sharing the animal’s location would encourage eager huntsmen to track it down and shoot it, but several hunters commented that this was not the case.

“[I was] always was told it’s bad luck to shoot one,” one user said.

“I am a hunter and I would never take that deer!” said another. “Beautiful! Bad mojo to take a white deer.”