Rare white roe deer spotted in Jilin

CHANGCHUN -- A rarely seen white roe deer was recently spotted in a national park in northeast China's Jilin province, the park authorities said Wednesday.

The Northeast Tiger and Leopard National Park Administration said that the footage of the wild animal was captured by the park's monitoring system on April 5 and the animal was later confirmed by experts as a roe deer.

Feng Limin, vice director of the monitoring and research center of Siberian tigers and Amur leopards of the National Forestry and Grassland Administration, said the species is usually yellow, while its white color is due to the genetic disorder of albinism.

White roe deer were exceedingly rare in history, and they were regarded as national treasures or sacred animals in ancient times in China, according to Feng.

The lastest documentary record of white roe deer appeared in 1981 in north China's Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region.