Rare piebald moose captured on video by Newfoundlander
Digital Reporter
Wednesday, May 24, 2017, 3:44 PM - Photographer Gerard Gale was in Black Duck Siding in western Newfoundland Monday when he managed to capture a majestic white moose grazing only three feet away from him.
"Once in a lifetime for me being three feet away and almost touching distance at one point," Gale posted on Facebook along with footage of the animal.
The video posted on May 22 has been viewed over 38,000 times.
"Slowly made my way toward it! Quite tame and I sat down low in the middle of the trail... so i didn't seem to be a threat to him," the photographer said.
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Gerard Gale Photo
Piebald Moose... Print's available! Feel free to HIT share!
Several residents who live in the Black Duck Siding area noted on Facebook that they had viewed several short clips of the animal in the past week, but nothing of Gale's video quality and length and time.
While some have referred to the moose as albino, the coloration or pattern is what Newfoundland's wildlife division calls piebald, according to CBC.
A piebald or pied animal is one that has a pattern of pigmented spots on a white background of hair, feathers or scales.
This isn't the first time a piebald moose has been caught on camera in the region. One was seen several times in the Stephenville and Port au Port area in June 2015, CBC reports.
"It's obvious that there's a genetic influence on the moose population that's localized in that area, that's producing these types of reflections in the offspring, as compared to the greater part of Newfoundland where the likelihood of an encounter of those types of genes would be a lot lower," Wayne Barney, a species management coordinator with the wildlife division told the news agency.
According to Barney, there is legislation in place for the Port au Port Peninsula, otherwise known as Moose Management Area 43, that prohibits the taking of a moose that is predominately white in colour, which includes piebald or any albino animal.
SOURCE: CBC
WATCH BELOW: Snow in May anyone? Apparently this moose is enjoying it
