African white lion cubs - pics

[Kadie]

I love the 3rd pic :)






One-year-old African white lion cub Almaz rests inside its enclosure at the Royev Ruchey zoo in Russia's Siberian city of Krasnoyarsk, June 24, 2011. The lions Agata and Almaz, who bear the names proposed by local resident Yelena Vilkina, the winner of a contest, were bought in South Africa and delivered to Siberia last winter. The Royev Ruchey is the second Russian zoo which owns white lions, according to a zoo representative.

pics from daylife.com


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White lion

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,<1> 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<2>.

White lions are not albinos. Their white color is caused by a recessive gene known as the chinchilla 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. White lions in South Africa are currently being bred almost exclusively for hunting, but Linda Tucker (the founder of GWLP] and author of The Mystery of the White Lions) and her team are trying to change the South African hunting laws.

more...
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/White_lion

[warrior1]

1. those are his baby teeth?

[xchrom]

2. Cool. Nt

[KittyWampus]

3. Kimba! The original Lion King.

[InvisibleTouch]

4. "The White Lions of Timbavati"

I have that book. One of my prize possessions.

I first saw it in a bookstore as a kid when I was out with a friend and his mom. At the time we were both huge "Kimba the White Lion" fans (me moreso than he, as I recall), and I was all excited about finding the book. Had I been traveling with my parents, I would have whined and wheedled and pestered until they bought it for me. My friend shook his head sadly and said, "No, we can't buy that for you."

Many years later I found it in a used bookstore. :)

[Shagbark Hickory]

5. the 3rd pic is cute. The others just look hungry. nt