White desert lion
Panthera leo krugeri
Kelly & Kimba
Kelly and Kimba were born in Slovakia in private captivity to white parents, where they were abandoned by their lioness mother and apparently spent most of the day in a crate. We took them into our care as month old cubs and they were cared for 24/7.
It was a difficult time, because such small cubs do not yet know how to eat or defecate on their own. They loved the milk from the bottle and drank it the longest of all the cubs. We recognized them by their eyes because Kelly was squinting (this defect also occurs in other species due to genetic mutation).
Not yet adopted
It is a leucistic form of the desert lion. Cubs are born completely white, darkening with age.
In nature, white cubs are very visible prey, adults are very difficult to camouflage when hunting, and such rare individuals are still subject to poaching. It is also for this reason that it is assumed that it is possible to see white individuals only in captivity, where their manifestations and needs do not differ from classically colored individuals.
It is estimated that there are only a few dozen leucistic lions in the world, and even that mostly in captivity. They live most freely in the Kruger Park in Africa.
White desert lion
Panthera leo krugeri
Kelly & Kimba
Date of birth
06. 05. 2016
Order
Family
BODY LENGTH
male 2.7 m (90 cm tail) females are smaller
HEIGHT
90-120 cm
Weight
200-250 kg
LIFE EXPECTANCY
11-12 years, in captivity even double
LENGTH OF PREGNANCY
105-112 days
NUMBER OF YOUTHS
2-5
Occurrence
Africa
Food
wildebeest, zebras, impalas and other antelopes
Kelly a Kimba
Kelly and Kimba were born in Slovakia in private captivity to white parents, where they were abandoned by their lioness mother and apparently spent most of the day in a crate. We took them into our care as month old cubs and they were cared for 24/7.
It was a difficult time, because such small cubs do not yet know how to eat or defecate on their own. They loved the milk from the bottle and drank it the longest of all the cubs. We recognized them by their eyes because Kelly was squinting (this defect also occurs in other species due to genetic mutation).
Not yet adopted
It is a leucistic form of the desert lion. Cubs are born completely white, darkening with age.
In nature, white cubs are very visible prey, adults are very difficult to camouflage when hunting, and such rare individuals are still subject to poaching. It is also for this reason that it is assumed that it is possible to see white individuals only in captivity, where their manifestations and needs do not differ from classically colored individuals.
It is estimated that there are only a few dozen leucistic lions in the world, and even that mostly in captivity. They live most freely in the Kruger Park in Africa.
