Zoo keepers get a shock after five ultra-rare white lion cubs are born in captivity to tawny-coloured parents

By Damien Gayle


These five stunning white cubs are among the rarest lions that exist in the world.

Born in Ukraine two weeks ago, three of them in a safari park and two in a zoo in the coastal city of Yalta, they all share a recessive gene that gives them their unique pure white colour.

They have been brought together to be raised by keepers at the Yalta Zoo. As yet the cubs have no names, but they will be given some in a few months when they grow up.


Cute: White lion cubs rest on a towel in the office of the director of Yalta Zoo in the Ukraine. The ultra-rare cats were all born a fortnight ago to tawny coloured parents


Chilling out: A white lion cub cuddles up to a teddy bear

Infant: A zoo keeper holds a white lion cub at feeding time

White lions are not albinos. Like blue eyes in humans, the animals' white colour is caused by a recessive gene shared by both parents.

Staff at Yalta Zoo, where the first two female cubs were born, said they weren't expecting the white cubs, which came from a normal-coloured tawny mother.

Alexander Dyakov, Yalta Zoo's vet told the International Business Times: 'We expected that the cubs would be beige or straw-coloured, the natural colour of lions, but we were really, really pleasantly surprised.

'That is, it's a great rarity for Ukraine, for Europe, for the whole world, white lions are a real rarity.

'And we have two female lion cubs, absolutely healthy, absolutely strong. We wait for them to grow up and be exhibited.'

The animals are being raised in the zoo director's office for the time being. The tawny lioness mother didn't produce enough milk to feed them so zookeepers give them a bottle every two hours.


Hungry: The tawny lioness mother didn't produce enough milk to feed her cubs so zookeepers give them a bottle every two hours


Someone needs a bib: A white lion cub drools some of its formula milk during feeding time


Surprised: Yalta Zoo Director Oleg Zubkov holds a white lion cub. Staff were not expecting the ultra rare white big cats

Adopted: Mr Zubkov and his wife Olga care for the animals in his office at the zoo

White lions are native to only the Greater Timbavati region of South Africa, an area characterised by white sandy riverbeds and long grass scorched pale by the sun.

They are regarded as sacred animals by the people of that region, but after Europeans 'discovered' them in the 1970s, many were taken from the wild to captive breeding and hunting operations, according to the Global White Lion Protection Trust.

These removals, along with lion culling and trophy hunting of male lions, depleted the gene pool and the animals have been technically extinct in the wild for the past 12 years.

In their natural habitat, white lions are regarded as 'apex predators', able to hunt successfully in day and night and take down prey as large as giraffes.

Majestic: A male white lion raised in captivity and reintroduced to the wild yawns as he basks in the hot African sun

Despite their rarity, white lions are not yet classified as endangered because biologists still regard them as ultimately the same as their tawny equivalents.

The Global White Lion Protection Trust is campaigning for white lions to be recognised as a subspecies of lions, so that they can be protected under international law.

However, the genetic marker that makes white lions unique has not yet been identified by scientists and research into the animals is ongoing.

The trust estimates that there are no more than 300 white lions in existence. In recent years it has reintroduced the animals to a nature reserve within Greater Timbavati in an effort to eventually reintroduce the gene to wild lions.


source:dailymail

Puppy love: The lion cub called Simba who has forged an adorable friendship with Monty the dog and Thumper the rabbit

By Ian Garland


..It reads like the plot of a Disney movie - three unlikely animal playmates overcoming their differences to forge an adorable friendship.

But this is a real-life story, about a lion cub called Simba, a rabbit called Thumper and a dog called Monty, all being raised together at the Glasgow home of two zookeepers.

Archive footage has emerged of the trio spending their days play-fighting and cuddling - and their antics have now become a belated smash online more than 20 years after they were filmed.

Scroll down for video

Unlikely friends: Simba the lion nuzzles up to his playmate Thumper the rabbit in archive footage recorded in Glasgow during the 1980s that has now become a hit online

Upper hand: Monty makes the most of his temporary size advantage in a playfight with Simba

Thirteen-week-old Simba was taken away from his mother at Glasgow Zoo, which closed in 2000, after falling ill over the winter.

While sharing a home with two zookeepers in the 1980s, Simba found willing playmates in the couple's pet dog and rabbit.

Despite their obvious differences, the three became firm friends, showing genuine and heart-warming affection for each other as they scamper around the home they share.

Sadly the friendship was destined to come to an end - having shaken off the illness that kept him away from his real family, he soon had to return to the zoo.

He also quickly grew too big to be trusted around his already fully-grown playmates - as well as his human housemates.

His keeper reveals on the YouTube video, which has been viewed by thousands of people: 'As he gets older he gets more boisterous. In the morning you wake up and go to the toilet and there's a lion cub clinging on to the back of your leg.'


Simba pounces on Thumper, playfully. The cub was to quickly outgrow his playmates


Once he catches his little friend, they nuzzle and cuddle up and Simba nibbles affectionately on Thumper's fur


Simba had to be fed from a bottle while he was raised away from his pride


The lion cub grew quickly and was then returned to Glasgow Zoo, which closed in 2000




source:dailymail

Nature, red in tooth and claw: Stunning pictures show battle to the death between hippo and two lions

By Leon Watson


These amazing shots show a fight to the death between two lions and a hippo.

After attacking and driving the hippo into deep water, the pair of lions play a waiting game, lying still on nearby rocks for two hours before the hippo ventures out.

Having waited for it to get clear of its bolt-hole, the lions pounce and the plucky juvenile hippo puts up a fight, chasing them away.

Fight to the death: A lion gets onto the hippo's back and the other attacks from the front at the Sabi Sands Game reserve in South Africa

But one lion gets onto the hippo's back and the other attacks from the front leaving the hippo charging with them to the nearest bit of a water in a bid to get them off.

But the water is shallow and the lions manage to flip the hippo over and drown it, before they are joined by a third lion for dinner.

Photographer Andrew Schoeman, 39, said: 'I was woken early one morning in the Sabi Sands Game reserve in South Africa by distress calls though I didn't know at that point it was a hippo.

'I followed the noise and saw the young hippo between three to five-years-old in shallow water surrounded by the three lions.

'Every time the hippo wanted to get away, the lions would go for him and he would then retreat back into the water.

'I think the lions attacked the hippo earlier than when I got there and the hippo had managed to get into the pool of water that was too deep for the lions to go into.


Law of the jungle: The two lions start off by stalking the hippo in its pond bolthole

One of the lions ventures into the water in the Sabi Sands Game reserve, but is chased out

'From the scratches on the hippo I would guess that the lions had been going after the hippo for quite some time before I arrived.

'This carried on for a while and then the lions went to lay down on a rock close to the water's edge. About two hours passed and eventually the hippo slowly emerged from the water.

'The hippo seemed not to see the lions crouched close by as they were very still and did not move.


Waiting game: The two lions lie in wait behind a rock as the stand-off continues into daylight


Forced out of his bolthole and onto dry land, the hippo is set upon by a vicious lion

A lion leaps onto the hippo's back as the other one circles with intent. Blood can been seen on the target's back

'It looked around and all seemed clear, so he started walking away. The lions waited until he got about 50m from the pool of water before chasing after him.

'The first lion was chased off by the hippo but the second lion jumped onto the hippo's back which allowed the first lion to also grab hold of the hippo.

'At this point the hippo realised he was in trouble and headed for the river with both lions attached.


Both of the beasts are now in on the action with one on the hippo's back and the other biting it


The hippo, still under attack, makes a dash back into the water in an attempt to escape

A third lion enters the fray, leaping into the water to attack the hippo

'It ran into the water and the lions held on but as the water was now shallower than the first pool and the lions were able to stand, they hung on and managed to pull the hippo onto its side.

'They then flipped it over onto its back and held the hippo upside down in the water until it stopped moving, before they started to eat it.'

Mr Schoeman added: 'I have never seen anything like this before. Lions are very opportunistic and will catch what they can whenever they can.


It's three versus one now as the lions claws at the injured hippo in the pond. There is now no escape


With blood streaming out of it, the hippo lies stricken underwater as two of the lions sink their teeth into it

Game over: Lions 1, hippo 0 as the poor creature is devoured in the water. It did put up quite a fight though

'I believe there are certain prides of lions that have learned to catch hippos but it is by no means a common occurrence.

'To be able to witness something like this in all its rawness was an amazing experience. It shows the true power of our natural world as well as these magnificent lions.

'Although it is not pleasant to see animals die and get killed it was a once in a lifetime experience.

'As a photographer I was thrilled to get these images and happy that the exposures were good and all in focus.'

Mr Schoeman lives in Nelspruit South Africa, but has worked in lodges in South Africa, Tanzania and Botswana.

He was a full time guide for nine years before managing lodges in Tanzania and Botswana for three years.

During that time he was also a full time photographic guide and now hosts photographic groups to all the photographic hotspots across Africa including South Africa, Botswana, Namibia, Tanzania, Rwanda, Uganda and Zimbabwe.


source:dailymail

He's joined the camera club: Safari tourists discover why you shouldn't leave things lion around

By Valerie Elliott


Paws for your close-up: A cub moves into focus with a lion behind the lens after tourists dropped their camera equipment


This is the extraordinary moment when two young lions grabbed a camera and tripod dropped by tourists on safari – and ended up taking pictures themselves.

The cub and three-year-old male companion closed in on the equipment belonging to two Belgian travellers after it fell out of their group’s Land Cruiser on an early morning expedition.

The animals pounced within moments of the camera hitting the ground. And not only did the predators manage to nudge the button to take pictures, the younger lion seemed to be a willing model.


The older animal then took matters into his own hands – or at least his jaws – as he seized the camera tripod in his mouth.

The moment was captured by photographer Paul Goldstein at the Masai Mara game reserve in Kenya.

He said: ‘It took a little while for them to realise the camera wasn’t a meal before they used it as intended.

The lion grips the tripod dropped from the safari vehicle. The moment was captured by photographer Paul Goldstein at the Masai Mara game reserve in Kenya.


'The cub seems to have enjoyed the attention. The lions managed to fire off four actual shots.’ But he added that the pictures were ‘out of focus and poorly composed’.

Mr Goldstein, who is a guide for Exodus Travel, said: ‘The tourists got their battle-scarred gear back after 15 minutes. Amazingly, it still worked but it’s not likely to fetch much on eBay.’


The tourists got their damaged camera equipment back eventually and remarkably it still worked



source:dailymail

Where's the lid on this thing? Tortoise won't come out of his shell to play with lions... which is why he escaped

By Chris Brooke


Lions in need of a tin opener after being outwitted by a leopard tortoise


When an unfortunate tortoise wandered into a pride of lions there appeared to be only one possible outcome.

So the tortoise did what all tortoises do in such sticky situations…it went into its shell and awaited the inevitable.

But luckily the young lioness cubs were clearly puzzled by the strange shelled creature in their midst and didn’t know what to do next.


Trying to work out if it was a snack or an unusual toy, they licked it, pawed it, squashed it and attempted to eat it.

Nothing seemed to work and every time that hard shell got in the way.

And so having famously outwitted the speedy hare, the tortoise proved too smart for the king of the beasts.

Eventually the female lion cubs got bored of their plaything and moved on in search of a tastier meal.

Tourist Mike Cullis, 62, who took the amazing pictures, said the tortoise appeared to suffer no serious injury and survived its ordeal.

Mr Cullis, a former operations manager in the oil and gas industry from Tenby, Dyfed, snapped the scene whilst on safari in the Masai Mara game reserve in Kenya last week.

Puzzle: A cub licks the tortoise in the Masai Mara game reserve in Kenya

He said: 'They seemed to get bored with it after an hour or so and once the lions had gone I think the tortoise just wandered off. I should think it had a bit of a headache though.

'I am convinced they were playing with it like a toy. Let's face it, a tortoise is not much of a meal for a lion. They have much bigger meals than a tortoise would provide.

'The young female lions were about 18 months old and very playful. At one point as a lion played with it, another one came over and put its paw on the tortoise as if to say: "Let me have a go."

Bored: Interest begins to wane as the lions can't open the tortoise shell


'One of the very experienced guides who was with us said they had only ever seen lions playing with a tortoise like this once before. It was a rare sight and I felt very privileged to witness it.

'I don't actually think the lions would have been capable of carving the tortoise open because they have very thick shells and are incredibly well designed for defence.'

It was identified as a leopard tortoise - the fourth largest species of tortoise in the world. Adults typically reach 18 in in size and weigh 40lbs.

They defend themselves from predators by retracting their feet and head into their shell. This often results in a hissing sound, probably due to the squeezing of air from the lungs as the limbs and head are retracted.

They can move relatively fast and stay underwater for 10 minutes.


source:dailymail

Cliffhanger! Lion cub saved by mum in dramatic scenes caught on camera as he cries out pitifully for help

By Paul Thompson


The drama begins: The mother arrives at the edge of the cliff as her son cries out for rescue after being trapped when he slipped


Clinging on for dear life to the side of a vertical cliff, the tiny lion cub cries out pitifully for help.

His mother arrives at the edge of the precipice with three other lionesses and a male. The females start to clamber down together but turn back daunted by the sheer drop.

Eventually one single factor determines which of them will risk her life to save the youngster – motherly love.

On the brink: Four lionesses look over the edge before aborting their rescue mission because of the sheer drop


Slowly, agonisingly, the big cat edges her way down towards her terrified son, using her powerful claws to grip the crumbling cliff side.

One slip from her and both animals could end up dead at the bottom of the ravine.

Just as the exhausted cub seems about to fall, his mother circles beneath him and he is snatched up in her jaws.

She then begins the equally perilous journey back to the top. Minutes later, they arrive and she gives the frightened creature a consoling lick on the head.

Rescue mission: The mother inches her way down the cliff face to rescue the terrified cub before locking him in her jaws and making her way back up the cliff face


Motherly love: The mother gives her son a lick to say that all is well in the pride following the drama


The dramatic rescue, captured by wildlife photographer Jean-Francois Largot, was played out in Kenya’s Masai Mara game reserve.

Despite the presence of wardens to deter poachers, day-to-day life for the lions is not without its dangers … as the cub learned the hard way.


source:dailymail

Gives milk to a newborn lion at the Zoo

Veterinarian Doctor Maria Diaz gives milk to a newborn lion at the Zoo and Eco Park 'Joya Grande' in the Santa Cruz de Yojoa municipality, department of Cortes, Honduras, on September 17, 2011.



Veterinarian Doctor Maria Diaz gives milk to a newborn lion at the Zoo and Eco Park 'Joya Grande' in the Santa Cruz de Yojoa municipality, department of Cortes, Honduras, on September 17, 2011.



Veterinarian Doctor Maria Diaz holds three newborn lions at the Zoo and Eco Park 'Joya Grande' in the Santa Cruz de Yojoa municipality, department of Cortes, Honduras, on September 17, 2011.



Veterinarian Doctor Maria Diaz gives milk to a newborn lion at the Zoo and Eco Park 'Joya Grande' in the Santa Cruz de Yojoa municipality, department of Cortes, Honduras, on September 17, 2011.


source: daylife
photo: Getty images

Imagine the roar when he wakes up! Lionhearted dentists perform delicate dental work on tranquilised big cat

By Daily Mail Reporter


To me, to you: Vets gently lay Tyson on to the operating table at the Medellin vets


These lionhearted dentists had to have courage to deal with this difficult patient.

Tyson the lion had to be tranquilised and carried into the surgery at the Santa Fe Zoo in Medellin, Colombia.

Twenty-year-old Tyson's jaws had to be held open with rope as on vet reached inside to perform the delicate procedure.

Delicate work: His jaws held open by strong rope, a brave vet reaches inside Tyson's mouth to perform the procedure


Imagine the roar when he wakes up! Tyson lives at the Santa Fe Zoo in Medellin, Colombia


source:dailymail

So close you can almost feel her breath: How wildlife photographer captured amazingly intimate portraits of pride of lions

By Craig Mackenzie


Puzzled: A curious young lioness gazes into the camera, below, which had been set up on a tree in the wild on a game reserve in Zimbabwe


Taking pictures of big cats is always a tricky business, but if you want really intimate shots you have to get as close to them as you dare without becoming their dinner.

That's how wildlife photographer Chris Weston snapped these amazing shots of a pride of lions while documenting big game in Zimbabwe.

He used a remote camera fixed to a tree so he could capture them in off-guard moments and even put one inside a dead carcass and propped it up as though it were alive so he could see the moment the animals attacked.

The 44-year-old from Weymouth spent six weeks gaining the lions' trust, but insisted he was 'never really' in any danger.


He added: 'There is always an element of that when working with animals, especially wild ones, but it's key to be able to read their body language and the way they communicate with you.'

Chris, who has travelled all over the world to film large mammals, wanted to capture the personality of an animal in the same way a portrait artist would with a human subject.

'Lenses change the perspective of the way we see things,' he said. 'What I like to do is show it as we see it and the standard lens is 50mm which means you have to get relatively close.

'The idea is to give the viewer an idea of the personality of that individual animal.

The lion king: The leader of the pride runs towards the Chris Weston's camera. He had spent six weeks gaining the trust of the big cats


Attack: A camera hidden in a carcass captures the moment just before two of the animals swoop


'In much the same way as you would take a person's portrait, you can't be standing half a mile away with a long lens. You have to get close and establish some kind of relationship.'

Chris spends a long time building a relationship with his subjects and has returned to shoot this pride in the Ngamo Game Reserve on several occasions over the past five years.

'Lions are generally wary of humans but people would be surprised at how non-aggressive they are,' he said.

'What's surprising is that when you spend a lot of time with the lions you begin to get a sense of their individual characteristics.

'It's very much like making friends with an animal - and you can only do that when you are relatively close to them.'

After coming up with the idea to put the camera in the tree it took Chris about three days to get the picture he wanted.

Chris also took to the water to document the lions swimming. He said: 'Most cats don't like water so seeing them swimming was very interesting.'


source:dailymail

The lion mane tamer: Meet the gamekeeper who gives maneating Jamu a daily hairspray as part of his beauty treatment

British animal wrangler Alex Larenty risks his life daily so he can prune, primps and polishes a massive lion.

Theses amazing pictures show the fearless 50-year-old, from Chipping North, happily fluffing the mane of massive maneater Jamu at the Lion Park near Johannesburg.

He also sprays the 9-year-old beast with special lion hairspray, gives him a manicure and even massages his feet.

British animal wrangler Alex Larenty sprays Jamu the Lion with special Lion hairspray at the Lion Park in Johannesburg, South Africa


And it's all in the name of making him attractive to the opposite sex.

Former truck driver Alex said: 'I use a hairspray that gives Jamu's mane a glossy sheen and hides his gingerness.

'That makes him more appealing to a mate.'

Alex also gives Jamu a manicure and massages his feet to help him become more attractive to the opposite sex


Alex moved to South Africa in 1999 and has been an animal trainer for 35 years

Having reared many lions from birth, Alex is able safely to walk into the middle of Jamu's pride and play games while surrounded by huge numbers of the massive predators.

He has said previously: 'I built up a relationship with Jamu through putting insect repellent onto him, which is necessary here to keep our animals protected from things like parasites.

'He eventually realised he liked being scratched and tickled.'

The 208-acre Lion Park houses over 300 animals including lions, cheetahs and hyenas.


Having reared many lions from birth, Alex is able safely to walk into the middle of Jamu's pride and play games while surrounded by huge numbers of the massive predators


source:dailymail