Albino deer caught on camera in Westmoreland County

PITTSBURGH (KDKA) -- An albino deer was captured on camera in Westmoreland County. 

The all-white deer was recorded walking around in a field earlier this week. 

While the Pennsylvania Game Commission says albino deer are "exceptionally rare," it's not the first time a white deer has been spotted in the Pittsburgh region. 

In 2019, sightings of an albino deer and an albino fawn were reported within a week of each other in the North Hills area. 

Last year, Fayette County residents were outraged when an albino deer they said had been roaming the community for eight years was shot and killed. A Perryopolis native said they called him "whitey" or "the albino," and there was a sort of agreement that the deer was going to live his life out naturally. 

A Perryopolis man was charged with state game violations for allegedly killing that deer out of season. The wildlife management area where the animal roamed had a break between archery and rifle deer season where there was no hunting, and that's when the hunter allegedly poached the deer and then tried to get it processed.

The Game Commission says partially white deer, called piebalds or calico, happen more frequently than all-white deer but still make up less than 1% of the population. Melanistic deer are dark-colored, and also exceptionally rare, the Game Commission says. 

And deer aren't the only albino wildlife to pop up in the Pittsburgh area. A rare albino raccoon was rescued in Somerset County this summer.