An extremely adorable fawn abandoned shortly after birth, has finally found comfort at a local farm in Michigan. The baby deer was rejected by his own mom because he was born with a very unusual featuring on his face.
The one and a half-week-old fawn was born with a very rare condition called piebald. Unlikely albinism or melanism, piebald occurs when an animal has large patches on its body without pigmentation. The little one is named Dragon – a pretty fierce name, betrayed, however, by his extremely cute face.
The rare deer was born at Deer Tracks Junction, a farm in Cedar Springs, Michigan and due to his condition, his mom abandoned him shortly after birth. Fortunately, he’s now thriving thanks to the kind people that look after him.
“In the wild, they are very, very rare,” Hilary Powell, Dragon’s adoptive mom said. “Being a piebald causes many different health risks and a whitetail deer will instinctually reject any babies that do not have a good chance of survival.”
Just like albino animals, Dragon would have had huge difficulties to live in the wild. Animals that suffer from these rare condition are very often rejected by their groups and even worst, they’re extremely vulnerable in front of predators due to their lack of camouflage.
“Normally they have a black nose,” Powell told FOX17. “[A pink nose is] actually a detriment in the wild, because if they don’t have shade, their nose is very sensitive to the sun and can get sunburn. The white, on the other hand, makes him stand out so he can’t hide from predators, and he can’t hear or see as well as a regular deer, so he can’t hear or see predators coming.”
Thankfully for Dragon, at the farm he lives, he has all the ingredients for a long happy life!
