Subspecies or Albino?
White lions are truly a sight to behold. They are spectacularly beautiful, with their luminous white fur and haunting bluish eyes, and only occur naturally in the Timbavati area of South Africa.
But what causes their colouration? Many people may think that the white lions are albino lions, some may think that they are a subspecies of lion, surprisingly neither are true. White lions' colouration is, in fact, a genetic mutation called "leucism". The parents of white lions, most likely, have the typical tawny colouration. The condition is exceedingly rare, as both parents need to carry this recessive gene, which in itself is a rarity.
Near Extinction
The trend to deliberately breed colour mutants, be it white and black impalas, king cheetahs or white lions by the game farming industry, is more likely to be for monetary gain than for any altruistic reasons for saving the species.
White lions in the wild are potentially very endangered, as are all wild lions, due to habitat encroachment, population explosions and competition for food.
Add to that list trophy hunting, lion cub petting and walking with lions, which often then leads to canned hunting and the picture is bleak. However, with conservation efforts, the protection of all lions, and public education collectively these can help to keep the African lion safe.
White lions are not albinos, but rather leucistic. In other words, they get their pale colouration from a recessive gene that shows up from ...
Timbavati Game Reserve covers approximately 53,000 hectares of unspoiled South African nature. It is located on the western edge of the Krug...