AN exceptionally rare white deer nicknamed “Pearl” has been discovered in the Scottish lowlands by a professional hunter, who is now taking bids from people who want to kill it.

The whitecoated roebuck, which experts say is not an albino, is so unusual that only a handful have been seen in Britain since the end of the second world war.

That the deer has now been given what amounts to a death sentence has infuriated animal lovers, who are now campaigning to save its life.

Kevin Stuart, who has the stalking rights to the 3,000-acre estate in Dumfries and Galloway where the wild deer lives, says he hopes to secure a four-figure sum from a trophy-seeking client to shoot it when the hunting season opens in three weeks’ time.

He has already been contacted by people keen to stalk the deer, which could fetch up to £6,000 — four times the price of a normal specimen.

The idea of having such a rare trophy is exciting the interest of field-sports enthusiasts across Britain and even farther afield, and threatening to start a bidding war for the right to shoot it. One specialist British shooting magazine is planning to publish a regular “white roebuck diary”, which will count down to its death by detailing sightings and bids by those wishing to kill it.

Animal welfare groups have reacted with horror to the prospect of hunters shooting the deer.

“It needs a symbolic name – Pearl – because it is rare and absolutely beautiful,” said Ross Minett of Advocates for Animals.

“Most people will be disgusted by the thought that the appearance of such a rare and beautiful animal has prompted a bloodthirsty race to kill it.” Louise Robertson, Scotland campaign manager at the League Against Cruel Sports, said: “It’s appalling that people get pleasure from shooting these animals anyway, but to kill a rare species that should be enjoyed by the wider public beggars belief.”

Roe are the most common of the UK’s six species of wild deer, with their numbers estimated to be higher than 800,000. The buck shooting season runs for a seven-month period starting on April 1. For the remainder of the year, only the female does are allowed to be killed by hunters.

With the overall deer population now at historically high levels, concerns have been raised over how to manage their numbers in order to minimise damage to crops and trees.

The white roebuck was first spotted on December 29 by Dave Bartle while he was out stalking on the estate at Kirkconnel. He managed to photograph it at fairly close range and since then several other hunters have also seen it.

Bartle said he was now keen to shoot the animal: “I’ve got two dates hopefully lined up next month. It needs culling – it’s a freak.

“It is definitely a male and it should start sprouting antlers soon – though I’m not into trophies myself.”

Stuart, 48, the head of an engineering firm in Lancashire who set up his stalking business 18 months ago, said he was keen to get the best price possible for the white roebuck.

“If someone wants to come up with an offer to shoot it, then by all means. I probably will not be taking the first offer I get, though,” he said.

Dave Goffin, training manager for the British Deer Society, said: “It’s definitely not an albino, though it does look like a strange thing. It’s a genetic throwback. Historically they are very uncommon.”

Other deer species are known to throw up white specimens with far greater frequency than roe. A strain of whitecoated fallow deer – the “white hart” of medieval hunts – is still common.

Richard Prior, a leading authority on roe deer, said: “A really white roe is quite a rarity. I am only aware of a few, certainly fewer than a dozen, in the last 60 years.”

Hunting enthusiasts are determined to kill Pearl because of its uniqueness.

Charlie Jacoby, editor of Sporting Rifle magazine, said: “A white roebuck is extraordinary – a once-in-a-decade deer. Anyone who loves deerstalking will think about going to try to shoot it.

“For as long as it survives we are running a ‘white roebuck diary’ in Sporting Rifle magazine and we are making a film about the animal for Field-sportsChannel.tv.”

Jacoby scoffed at the deer being dubbed Pearl.“We won’t insult our feelings for this animal by calling it Rabbie the Roe or Binky the Buck. If someone shoots it, we might name it Delicious the deer,” he said.

Peter Carr, a hunting outfitter, said: “It has novelty value to the Danes, the Germans and the French, who shoot a lot of roebuck. Assuming it has mature antlers, I wouldn’t be surprised if it went for £6,000.”

Elaine Murray, MSP for Dumfries, said: “This is disgraceful. I am appalled. They have no right to auction its life off in that way just because it happens to be on their land. There will be people who would love to see it alive, not butchered.”

Animal celebrities

Other animals that became causes célèbres

- In 1998 two Tamworth pigs evaded the abattoir and went on the run for a week in Wiltshire with the media on their trail. After their capture, Butch and Sundance were sent to an animal sanctuary

- A campaign to save Knut, the polar bear cub abandoned by his mother, made headlines in 2007 after animal rights activists called for him to be killed because he had been “unnaturally” raised by hand at Berlin zoo

- Keiko, a young killer whale, was captured off Iceland in 1979 and became a feature in amusement parks before starring in three Free Willy films. He was then returned to the wild

- In 2006 a brown bear, nicknamed Bruno, wandered out of the Austrian mountains and became the first of its species to step on German soil in 170 years. Despite a campaign to save him, Bruno was shot dead after rampaging through farmland, killing 33 sheep, four rabbits and a guinea pig

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