White lion
[5] 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.
[7] Lory Park Zoo is currently in possession of two adult white lions (Daniel and Heidi), who have produced eight cubs.
A second litter of five cubs was born in 2013; three were removed for their own well-being while the remaining two (a male, Gabriel, and a female, Gazelle) were left with the parents.
Another litter of white female cubs was captured from Kruger National Park and treated for sarcoptic mange.
[citation needed] In 2018, Mufasa, a three-year-old, was in the process of being sold in South Africa after he was taken from an owner illegally keeping him as a pet.
Mubuto, the male, and three lionesses (Marin, Natasha, and JoAnn; spellings undocumented) settled into the Kingdom of the White Lion exhibit at the park very well.
Newspapers and bloggers reported that the four cubs born at West Midland Safari Park, in 2008 had been sold to perform in a Japanese circus.
[16][17][18] It is alleged that the lions were given to British businessman Jim Clubb, who runs Amazing Animals, which also goes by the name Heythrop Zoological Gardens, in Chipping Norton, Oxfordshire.
The animal rights organization Lion Aid, Ltd., quoted Mr. Clubb as saying, first, "No comment," then, "I've no idea if the West Midland Safari Park knew they were going to the circus, that's a matter for them.
"[17] Bob Lawrence, the Head Keeper of West Midland Safari Park, who appears often in the YouTube videos raising the cubs, told the Worcester News, a local newspaper, that he "would never have supplied the four white lion cubs if he had known they would have ended up performing in a Japanese circus.
[24] Pafos Zoo, an Animal and Bird wildlife park in Cyprus, received two seven-month-old white lion cubs, Zeus and Hera, in 2011.
[26] The first white lions introduced into Malaysia was in March 2013 when the Safari Park in Bukit Gambang Resort City (Pahang) opened its door to the public.
[27] A couple of white lions named Zola and Zuri reside in the Sunway Lagoon's Wildlife Park since April 2015.
[35] The Wild Animal Sanctuary, located in Keenesburg, Colorado, has at times had white lions rescued from various for-profit zoos or other exploitative situations.
[37] The National Zoo & Aquarium, Canberra, Australia is home to 2 White Lions, brother & sister, Jake & Mischka.
They have pigment visible in the eyes (which may be the normal hazel or golden color, blue-gray, or green-gray), paw pads and lips.
The leucistic trait is due to a recessive mutation in the gene for Tyrosinase (TYR), an enzyme responsible for the production of melanins.
[citation needed] Subsequently, white cubs were born in the Timbavati Private Nature Reserve in 2006, 2008, 2009, 2011, 2012 and 2013, and in the Nwanetsi Area of Kruger National Park in 2014 and 2015, confirming that white lions are a natural occurrence and the recessive gene is still present in the wild population.
