White Lion Cubs

Good morning all.
Many apologies for just clicking and running in the last week or 2.
A quick upload of 2 white lion cubs (only 6 weeks old) before I rush off to the Rehab for the day.
White Lions first came to the worlds attention in the '70's when they were sited at a game reserve called "Timbavati".
Contrary to popular belief they are not Albino.
Due to their rarity, all the white lions were removed from their natural habitat and sent to captive breeding/hunting programmes as well as zoos and circuses, most famously Siegfried and Roy's magic act in Las Vegas.

After more than 12 years of extinction in the wild, a programme by the Global White Lion Protection Trust to reinstate them in the wild, was undertaken. Reinstatement of a white lion pride into Timbavati area, where they first rose to fame, was done early in 2006 and seems to be a success.

The characteristics of a lion is determined by genes, and it was found that white lions are the offspring of two lions who both carry the "autosomal recessive gene". It doesn't mean all their cubs will be white, but if they don't both carry this gene, there's no chance the cubs could be white.

This also means a white female can't produce white cubs unless the male she mates with also carries the recessive gene (and vice versa).

Their behaviour is no different to that of "normal" lions, and they have the same yellow eyes as ordinary lions. They do however, lack the black tip of the tail and the black patches behind the ears.

Interesting not so?

Camera:	Canon EOS 40D
Recording media:	RAW (digital)

Title:	White Lion Cubs
Username:	challicew
Uploaded:	10 Feb 2009 - 6:06 AM
Tags:	Close-up / macro, General, Lion cubs, White lion, Wildlife / nature
VS Mode Rating	Unrated These stats show the percentage of wins and the rating score that your photo has achieved. You can go to the VS Mode by clicking on this icon. Signup to e2 Signup to e2 to see which photo this has won or lost against in the vs mode
Votes:	31