Dragon, the White-Faced Fawn Rejected by Mom, Now Thriving

— -- A white-faced fawn rejected by his mother at birth is now thriving, thanks to the work of the people who are raising him.

Dragon, as he's called, is "piebald," said Hilary Powell of Deer Tracks Junction in Cedar Springs, Missouri. Piebald is when an animal has large patches on its body with no pigmentation. In Dragon's case, he has a white face.

It's that beautiful face though that caused his mother to reject him.

"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," Powell said. "The white 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. She had a brown fawn at the same time and is raising him fine."

Despite his compromised immune system, Dragon is "thriving," said Powell.

A white-faced fawn is very rare, she said. Only about one percent of deer are born this way. Very few survive in the wild after the mother rejects them.

Dragon got lucky being born at Deer Tracks Junction. Still, it may be a bumpy road ahead. "My almost 19 year-old-son named him Dragon," Powell said, "because he knew he would need to be tough to survive."