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| October
17th 1998 Four very special Lion Cubs (three female and one male) were born at Papanack on October 17th 1998. Unlike normal Tawny-coloured, Black spotted Lion Cubs, these were White, which is unusual enough since they were born to a Tawny parents Simba and Savannah with no known "white" gene history. |
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| Even more unusual, there were four Cubs in the litter, and rarer still, all of them were white. Never before has this occurred in Canada or the world. Current figures show only 25 other White Lions in the world today, so those really are unique.Many young lion females are poor mothers, and neglect or even kill their cubs. Savannah had her first litter in the spring of 1998. There were three cubs in the litter which did not survive (they were tawny colour). She only nursed them for one day, before abandoning it and we were not able to save them. | |
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| November
17th 1998 This time Savannah nursed her cubs for 11 days (this is above the average for second litter) before abandoning them. We removed them from the den and were able to save them because they were older and stronger. They were bottle feed with a Zoologic Formula. They are out of danger now and are doing great! |
SIX WEEKS OLD WHITE
LION CUB - CHARITY |
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| December
28 1998 Our Cubs are not pure white like Timbavati Lions for example. They are lacking 'tawny' colour gene, but they have 'black' colour gene. So there are sort of cappuccino - almond colour. Obviously they are carrying White Lions gene, and if they are breed to the White Lions there is a big chance that they will have a white homozygous offspring. What is very exciting that this will be only the fourth known line of White Lions in the World today. As you probably know the White Lions are extinct in the wild. Today there is 32 of them. Two more were born in Kruger Park, South Africa in December 1998. If you like to learn more about White Lions go to news and publications page. |
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| The
basis of heredity: species, alleles and gene pools.
Two animals are said to belong to the same species if they can breed together to produce fully viable offspring. Offspring will contains mixture of genes from both parents. Although the different members of the same species all have similar genes one to another, they do not have the same genes. Thus all humans poses genes that determinate color of the iris and type of hair, some have blue eyes and some have curly hair. Similarly all lions carry gene that determinate colour of their coat, when most of them are tawny, some of them appear white. Those different varieties of the gene responsible for the same feature are called - alleles. Each animal contain two sets of genes. One inherited from their mother, another from their father. So it contains two alleles (variations) for each kind of gene. When it has inherited a different alleles for particular gene from each parent it is said to be heterozygous for that gene and when inherited the same alleles is known to be called homozygous. Within an individual genotype, there is a random mixture of homozygous and heterozygous genes. |
 4/5 MONTHS OLD HOPE AT PLAY
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| Because there was only 25 White Lions in the world when our cubs were born, they became very valuable because they highly increased White Lions population gene pool. Specially that they are coming from different blood line than others. By increasing amount of different alleles in the gene pool the risk of inbreeding is reduced. Some alleles are deleterious and if they are inherited from both parents may cost serious illnesses or even all population may die out. | |
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On July 18th 99 at 2:00 p.m. we held Grand Opening Ceremony of White Lions Facility. White Lions are doing very well in their new home. They enjoy their cave and Hope had her first 'swimming lesson'. when she run into the moat. Simba and Savannah ( parents) are very close to their offspring now and become very vocal trying to communicate with them. |
