white lion

The white lion is a rare colour mutation of the lion, specifically the Southern African lion. White lions in the area of Timbavati are thought to have been indigenous to the Timbavati region of South Africa for centuries, although the earliest recorded sighting in this region was in 1938. White lions first became known to the English-speaking world in 1977 through the book The White Lions of Timbavati. Description White lions are not albinos. Their white color is called leucism, and is caused by an allele that is found at the same genetics as the allele that causes albinism. It is thought, but not proven, that the allele is inherited in an autosomal recessive fashion. They vary from blonde to near-white. This coloration does not appear to pose a disadvantage to their survival. White lions were considered to have been technically extinct in the wild between 1992 and 2004, when the Global White Lion Protection Trust achieved the first successful reintroduction of white lions to their natural habitat. These prides have continued to hunt and breed successfully in the wild, whilst other occurrences of white lion births have been reported in the greater Kruger region since then. Breeding and genetics Inbreeding can cause severe problems reproductively, even causing Arnold-Chiari malformation. This causes problems in the brain/skull and the spinal cord, more commonly in humans and dogs. However, ethical reintroduction programs such as The Global White Lion Protection Trust have sought to release captive white lions in to the wild.