Does anyone know anything about this lion? I must have saved this picture from a booking agent's website ages ago, I think it may have been from Tanzania...

If you are implying that it was a "white lion", then be sure that is not the case. It is just the way the picture was taken, probably with a flash that makes it appear so light in color.

Hadn't thought of that!

They raise them on a farm in RSA near Phalabora.

Through selective breeding (it is a naturally recessive gene) they can get about 25% "white".

Some info on White Lions.

from http://www.responsibletravel.com/Copy/Copy101740.htm :

"The first photographic records of the White Lions date back to the 1970s when researcher, Chris McBride, recorded the existence of White Lions in more than one pride in the Timbavati region. Further sightings were then recorded in the neighbouring Kruger Park area, within territorial range of Timbavati."

"Chris McBride, whose photo-journalistic studies in the 1970s put the White Lions on the map, had little idea what impact his photographs would have on the world. Not all revered the White Lions, however. Some saw the opportunity to cash in. In 1975, fearing for the safety of this unique species, which were being lured under the fences of the Timbavati reserve and bred for hunting purposes, or possibly even shot within the reserve itself, Chris McBride organised to have three lions captured, in an operation known as 'Operation White Lion'. These three lions were sent to the Pretoria Zoo. Today, no White Lions exist in the wild."

see also:

http://www.lairweb.org.nz/tiger/lions.html


-Bob F.

Panthera leo krugeri ....


Take a look at http://www.tigerhomes.org/animal/white_lion.cfm

I have been to Timbavati and seen the breeding programs there. It is quite impressive.

Didn't Siegfried and Roy breed white lions and white tigers. I certainly remember seeing them in Las Vegas.
Peter.

A very fine web page related to the white lions is
www.lairweb.org.nz/tiger/lions5.html

The only thing siegfried and roy breed are each other. To bad the lion didn't get both the fags.