A rare creature made his "stunning debut" at the North Carolina Zoo -- but he wasn't on exhibit.
Instead, the "snow-white" deer was seen roaming the area with members of a wild herd. The zoo said its workers had been on the lookout for wildlife when the unusual sighting "turned into a super-buzz that raced around the park."
"Employees who were lucky enough to see the small white fawn were the envy of their coworkers," the zoo, located in Asheboro, wrote in a Nov. 12 blog post. "More and more staff confirmed seeing the little guy -- everyone commenting how striking it is to see his big pink ears and brown eyes set against his pure white body."
Though the zoo shared the news in November, it said it first saw the "elusive" baby deer in the spring. Unlike other brown animals in the herd, the little one has white fur covering most of his body, photos show.
"This special fawn -- who isn't albino but has a condition called leucism -- made his stunning debut, captivating staff and sparking awe across the zoo," the wildlife park wrote on Facebook.
Leucism, a partial loss of pigmentation, is a genetic condition that can lead animals to have white patches of fur, according to the National Park Service. The zoo believes the condition impacts about 1 in 1,000 fawns.
"Some leucistic deer have accompanying skeletal deformities that can shorten their lifespans, but these are not present in the zoo's white fawn," the facility wrote. "With luck, he can enjoy a relatively normal life in the safety of his zoo herd."
The zoo said deer have lived inside its fence for several years, and some longtime workers remember spotting a white deer in the area in the late 1990s. This time around, the sighting also dazzled several Facebook users, including some who shared photos from their own unique wildlife encounters.
"As fate would have it, author Nicholas Sparks recently released Counting Miracles, featuring a white deer right here on Purgatory Mountain, where the zoo is located," the zoo wrote. "White deer also have great significance in the traditions and folklore of the Native American Indian tribes throughout the state of North Carolina."
White-tailed deer can be found across the state, living in habitats that range from forests to farmland. They typically live up to six years in the wild, according to the N.C. Wildlife Resources Commission.
The zoo, a roughly 70-mile drive west from Raleigh, didn't immediately share additional information with McClatchy News on Nov. 14.
"Wild things happen here all the time," the zoo wrote. "But the recent appearance of a native white deer? Whoa!"