25 May 2011 Last updated at 08:44 ET

Newport farm park owner baffled by white Highland calf

The white calf has become a star attraction at the park, says Mr Scrivens

The owner of a south Wales farm park says he is baffled by the birth of a white calf in a family of brown cattle.

The week-old Highland creamy white calf's parents and three siblings are all the traditional rusty brown colour.

Experts say the female calf is extremely rare and the result of a genetic throwback from ancient generations of the breed.

Owner Phil Scrivens, 65, of Walnut Tree Farm Park, near Newport, said: "I've never seen anything like it."

Mr Scrivens, a farmer for 50 years, added: "I've seen black ones and brown ones but never white - from a distance it looks more like a sheep."

The animal has become a star attraction at the park.

The white calf's siblings are all the breed's traditional brown colour

Mr Scrivens said: "People have been queueing around the block to see her."

Visitors are being asked to come up with a name for the calf - so far the favourites are Snowy, Chalky and Snowdrop.

A spokesman for the Highland Cattle Society said two dark-haired parents producing a white calf is "extremely unlikely".

He said: "You don't see many white Highlanders because the white gene is recessive. For two reds to have a white calf is extremely unlikely and incredibly rare.

"Somewhere along the bloodline there must be a link with the white gene.

"It probably goes back a long way, and with each passing generation you are adding up the odds of it happening. It's really quite unusual when it does."