While the pride members may separate and wander, the pride released at Sanbona Wildlife Reserve's 100,000 acres (40,000 hectares) will ultimately reunite, the Sanbona scientists say.PBS NATURE’s "The White Lions" was filmed in Greater Kruger National Park-primarily in the Timbavati Game Reserve located on the western edge of Kruger National Park.
To do this, the researchers bred the offspring of white lions with the tawny-colored variety.Ĭurrently, the pride is being closely monitored by members of the Shamwari Dubai World Africa Conservation team. Members of the White Lion Project wanted to boost the genetic integrity of captive-bred white lions. In addition, inbreeding reduces genetic variability, meaning the lions' immune systems could be weaker than that of their relatives. "But then there are a lot of problems with inbreeding, because not only are you more likely to get two copies of that same mutation, you're also likely to get two copies of the rare deleterious mutations that all individuals have.
"The best way to try to create more of them is to inbreed them," Amato told LiveScience. That's because in order to maintain the white coloring, the lions had to be inbred, ensuring two copies of the recessive mutation would get passed down to offspring. While the blond lions are a pretty sight in their wild environment, their coloring could belie health issues. "Conservation as an endeavor is basically about trying to maintain elements of the naturally occurring system to the best that you can," Amato said.
The IUCN, or International Union for Conservation of Nature, lists the species as "vulnerable," and "regionally endangered" in West Africa. Conservation efforts generally aim to reduce human impacts on animals suffering in the wild. Whether blond or tawny-colored, African lion populations are dwindling, due to poaching, habitat destruction (from land development) and diseases. "My guess is that they probably increased the frequency of that mutation either through selective breeding or inbreeding," Amato said. Even though white lions are rare in the wild, breeding programs, zoos and circuses have made more of them.
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