White lion

White lions are naturally found in South Africa, within the UNESCO biosphere “Kruger-to-Canyons” in the Timbavati reserve.

Contrary to what was once believed, white lions hunt just as well as yellow lions. In fact, scientific hypotheses indicated that white lions were unable to survive in the wild due to their inability to camouflage in the environment and therefore their inability to hunt effectively. So it is neither an advantage nor a disadvantage.

Due to the lion’s wide range on Earth, many studies have been conducted on the genetics of lions. There are genetic differences between different populations of lions. Thus, 24 subspecies of lions had been described based on morphological (size, color…) and genetic differences.

However, recent studies based on the analysis of mitochondrial DNA sequence variation propose a single subspecies for all African lion populations.

Therefore, today there are only two subspecies of lion on Earth: the African lion (Panthera leo leo) and the Asiatic lion (Panthera leo persica).

White lions are therefore not a separate subspecies.

White lions are carnivores and eat a wide variety of prey. They hunt wildebeests, zebras, buffalo, gazelles…

“Discovered” by Europeans in the 1930s in the Timbavati region, white lions became targets of trophy hunting and capture. Due to extensive removal, they had disappeared by the 1990s. Fortunately, in 2004, 3 groups of white lions were reintroduced.

Additionally, natural births of white lion cubs from tawny parents in 2006 and 2014 demonstrate that this genetic trait is present in this population of lions in South Africa.

Discover other species from the African continent: rhinoceros, secretary bird, African wild dog, lion, hippopotamus, gorilla, giraffe, African elephant, cheetah, caracal, meerkat, zebra, ring-tailed lemur, serval, golden eagle, white lion, gelada, ostrich, sand cat, dik-dik, flamingo, fennec, banded mongoose, steppe eagle, grey crowned crane, red river hog, spotted hyena, Nile crocodile, ball python, rock hyrax, black panther.