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Rare white lions make history
13/10/2008 10:43 - (SA)
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| Three of the rare white lions that have been released successfully at Sanbona Wildlife Reserve in the Little Karoo. (Photo supplied) |
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Birgit Ottermann
Cape Town - The recent release of rare white lions into Sanbona Wildlife Reserve in the Little Karoo has been heralded a great success, after several years of continued efforts.
Situated at the foot of the Warmwaterberg Mountains in the heart of the Little Karoo, Sanbona has become the home of what is believed to be the only free-roaming white lions in the world.
On 1 July 2008, the Shamwari Dubai World Conservation team at Sanbona, led by wildlife director Dr Johan Joubert and senior ecologist John O'Brien, has successfully released an integrated lion pride (including two adult males and two juvenile female white lions) into 40 000 hectares of wild land with herds of potential prey species.
The pride is being monitored very closely by die SDWC team and although the lions often separate and go their own way, they reunite regularly and are hunting and fending for themselves.
"It was a serious challenge to get the white lions free ranging at Sanbona. We had to overcome various obstacles to integrate the white lions with the existing lions," SDWC wildlife director Dr Johan Joubert told News24 on Friday.
'No guarantees'
According to Joubert initial meetings between lion prides in the wild usually led to severe fighting and often death.
"There were no guarantees the cubs wouldn't be killed during their first meeting with the wild tawny females. At the time we chose to sedate the adult lionesses to ensure their first meeting with the cubs went well. This seemed to work and it wasn't long before the cubs and females bonded as a pride," Joubert said.
The white lion is not an albino, but a rare colour mutation of the Kruger subspecies of lion (Panthera leo krugeri). Its unusual blonde to near white colouring is the result of a recessive gene, known as chinchilla or colour inhibitor.
Regarded as divine by locals, the white lion only occurs when two lions carrying the mutant gene mate.
Bordering on extinction
Over the past decades, white lions have been isolated to breeding programmes and circuses, and there have been very few reported sightings of these rare big cats in natural environments.
As a result, it has been widely assumed that the recessive gene in the lions producing the unusual colouring is bordering on extinction.
In 2003, Sanbona Wildlife Reserve procured two white lions, one male and one female as the basis for a very ambitious project - to re-establish the first wild, self-sustaining white lions since their removal from the Timbavati region in the 1970s.
The essence of this White Lion Project at Sanbona Wildlife Reserve was to integrate the white lion offspring with wild tawny lions, such that they could be taught to hunt and survive naturally.
Furthermore, breeding between white and tawny lions would considerably improve the genetic integrity of the white lions, as they have been inbred on breeding farms from a very small founder population.
'Amazing experience'
This ultimately ensures that the white lions are now free- ranging and self-sustaining in the wild.
"Releasing the white lions was an amazing experience," Joubert told News24. "After all the time and effort we put into the project it was incredibly rewarding to see them take their first steps as free-ranging lions."
All in all, the integrated pride members are making a life for themselves in a fashion of their own. Although they are not always together, they communicate, interact and experience life as wild lions should.
"When we first released the lions, we still weren't sure whether or not they would stay together as a pride," Joubert said.
"We monitored them closely for several weeks and during this time the cubs made their first kill. We had hoped the pride would stay together and the adult lionesses would hunt. But, the cubs were showing initiative of their own. This was more than we had even hoped to achieve so early in the release."
The patterns of the lions' existence are becoming apparent and their will to survive holds positive for the future.
The dedicated Shamwari Dubai World Africa Conservation team at Sanbona will continue to monitor their progress indefinitely.
- News24
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