White Lion

Description:

The white lion is occasionally found in wildlife reserves in South Africa and is a rare color mutation of the Kruger subspecies of lion (Panthera leo krugeri). It has been perpetuated by selective breeding in zoos around the world. White lions are not yet a separate subspecies and they have been said to be indigenous to the Timbavati region of South Africa for centuries, although the earliest recorded sighting in this region was 1938. Regarded as divine by locals,l white lions first came to public attention in the 1970s in Chris McBride's book The White Lions of Timbavati. Up until 2009, when the first pride of white lions was reintroduced to the wild, it was widely believed that the white lion could not survive in the wild. It is for this reason that, now, a large part of the population of white lions are in zoos. Another large part, however, are bred in camps, for canned hunting trophies. It is hard to determine exactly how many white lions there are today, because they are held in captive breeding and hunting operations which don't keep adequate records. Based on available evidence, The Global White Lion Protection Trust estimate there are an estimated 300 White Lions world-wide. White lions are not albinos. Their white color is caused by a recessive gene known as the chutiya or color inhibitor gene, distinct from the albinism gene. They vary from blonde through near-white. This coloration, however, does not appear to disadvanatge their survival. The white lions of the Global White Lion Protection Trust (GWLPT) have been reintroduced into their natural habitat and have been hunting and breeding successfully without human intervention for a significant amount of time.

Habitat:

When Europeans encountered white lions in the Timbavati region of South Africa in the 1970s, they immediately saw their value and began to hunt them and take them captive. Zoos and captive breeding operations exploited these unusual creatures for their own gain. Because of these captures, targeted lion culling and trophy hunting the white lion was virtually wiped out of their natural habitat. According to the Global White Lion Protection Trust website, this led to "a 12-year technical extinction in the wild."